food and drink business europe

February 2011

Glenmorangie focuses on brands building

Food & Drink Business Website:

www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com

C o n t e n t s

- 35 & 36 M EAT P ROCESSING

- 2 N EWS B RIEF

New £10m facility for Linden Foods.

Business news from the UK and international markets.

Cranswick strengthens asset base

- 45 F RESH P RODUCE

- 9-17 G UIDE TO IT Preactor APA - The most appealing solution for leading UK potato Supplier.

PAGE 3

Paul Polman, ce, Unilever.

Staples - Future-proofing with Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Nature’s Best turns over a new leaf.

P AGE 19

Christophe Navarre, president, Moet Hennessy.

- 43 B REWING Ten brewers control 61% of global beer market.

Sage ERP 1000 helps Nichols run a streamlined ‘hands-off’ supply chain.

PAGE 24

R EGULARS

Footprint to span your business.

PAGE 5

Robert Schofield, ce, Premier Foods.

- 19 C OVER S TORY

Bottling & Packaging . . . . . 8, 25-26, 47-48 Processing & Manufacturing. 22-23, 31-32, 37

Glenmorangie focuses on brands building.

Quality & Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Rapid revenue and profit growth at Moet Hennessy.

Energy & Environment. . . . . . . . . . . 38-41 Materials & Ingredients . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

- 24 S COTCH W HISKY

PAGE 6

Chivas Brothers slakes growing thirst for premium Scotch.

Indra Nooyi, chairman & ce, PepsiCo.

- 29 C HEESE

Christian Porta, chairman & ce, Chivas Brothers.

PAGE 30

Neil Kennedy, ce, Milk Link.

Managing Director: Colin Murphy Editor: Mike Rohan Sales Director: Ronan McGlade Advertising: Susan Doyle, Stuart Atkinson. Senior Sales Executive: Paul Lees Production Manager: Susan Doyle

Food & Drink Business Europe is published by Premier Publishing Limited, 51 Parkwest Enterprise Centre, Nangor Road, Dublin 12.

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Key players battle for a bigger slice of the UK cheese market.

Premier Publishing Limited can accept no responsibility for the accuracy of contributors’ articles or statements appearing in this magazine. Any views or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Premier Publishing and its Directors. No responsibility for loss or distress occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the authors, contributors, editor and publisher. A reader should access separate advice when acting on specific editorial in this publication!

Milk Link consolidates leadership in British cheese.

- 33 C ONFECTIONERY & S NACKS

PAGE 7

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Confectionery behind Zetar’s continued recovery.

Matti Rihko, ce, Raisio.

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FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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N N E E W W S S Strong Growth as Unilever’s Transformation Progresses Despite intense competition, weak consumer confidence in many markets and the impact of rising commodities costs in the second half, Unilever has delivered a strong financial performance in 2010 as it continued with its transformation strategy.

Whilst markets showed little or no growth in the developed economies, emerging market growth remained healthy.

Turnover rose 11.1% (3.6% at constant currency rates) to Eur44.3b and underlying operating profit advanced 12% to Eur6.6b. Profit before tax was up 25% (18% at constant currency) to Eur6.1b and net profit rose 26% to Eur4.6b.

Underlying volume growth was 5.8% while underlying sales growth was 4.1%.

“We are pleased with another year of good results in which we delivered against all our key priorities and further progressed the transformation of Unilever. We delivered strong volume growth, particularly in emerging markets which continued to be the engine of growth. We gained volume share in all regions driven by stronger innovations, significant increases in marketing investment and the extension of our brands into new territories,” says Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever

meet increasing demand for Kettle Chips. The Kettle brand has experienced significant growth driven by the introduction of its new Kettle Ridge Crisp line, the expansion of its Kettle Chip sharing, single serve and multi-pack lines and an increased penetration in both the impulse channel and international markets.

Diamond Foods acquired the Kettle Foods businesses in both the US and the UK from private equity group Lion Capital for $615m in cash last year.

Uniq Loses £10 Million in Desserts Sales UK chilled convenience food group Uniq has announced that its Minsterley desserts facility will lose £10m of annualised sales commencing in April. The loss of business will have a negative impact on Minsterley’s profitability in 2011. Uniq had already commenced a comprehensive review of its desserts business following and disruption to sales, caused partly by recent price increases. The review process is due to be completed in March 2011.

Geoff Eaton, chief executive of Uniq.

Burton’s Foods to Rationalise Biscuit Production

Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever.

Diamond Foods to Expand UK Kettle Foods Plant US-based snacks group Diamond Foods is investing $10m to expand of its UK production facility in Norwich to

Burton’s Foods, the second largest biscuits manufacturer in the UK, is to close its factory at Moreton, which makes Jammie Dodgers and Wagon Wheels, with the loss of 342 jobs. A further 70 redundancies are proposed at the company’s factory in Llantarnam in South Wales.

“The proposed job losses are deeply regrettable, but, along with the new £25m investment

B B R R II E E F F we are making in our UK manufacturing capability, will help deliver sustainable profitable growth for the company in a highly competitive and challenging market,” says Ben Clarke, chief executive of Burtons Foods.

Roshen’s Sales Jump by Almost a Third Sales at Roshen Confectionery, the Ukrainian confectionery manufacturer, surged by 32% to exceed $1b during 2010.

Production volumes rose by 12.7% to about 410,000 tons.

During last year, Roshen commenced construction of a new confectionary plant at Vinnitsa in Ukraine. When completed the site will become the largest milk production facility in Ukraine and will incorporate the production of milk powder, condensed products and butterfat.

In 2011, Roshen plans to invest $250m in building a new production complex in the Lipetsk region of Russia. It will be Roshen’s third factory in Russia.

Lindt & Sprungli Outperforms Chocolate Market

achieved global retail sales of more than $1b, bringing the number of its billion dollar brands to fourteen. Minute Maid Pulpy reached the $1b sales mark in only five years.

The success of Minute Maid Pulpy marks the first time that a brand of The Coca-Cola Company, developed and launched in an emerging market, has reached the billion dollar mark. Minute Maid Pulpy was launched nationally in China in 2005, and is now among the premier juice drink brands in 18 geographies across three continents including Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand and India.

Muhtar Kent, president and chief exe

DAIRY

Swiss premium chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprungli has outperformed the international chocolate market with organic sales growth of 7.3% in local currencies for 2010. Lindt & Sprungli, which has six production sites in Europe, two in the US and distribution and sales companies on four continents, managed to increase share in all of its key markets and further strengthen the Lindt, Ghirardelli and Caffarel brands. Lindt & Sprungli reported sales of SFr2.58b (Eur1.98b) and expects to post an operating profit (EBIT) for 2010 in the SFr300-340m range when it announces its full results in March.

FrieslandCampina to Invest €36 Million in Belgian Facility

Coca-Cola Gains Another Billion Dollar Brand

UK dairy group Robert Wiseman Dairies is considering the closure of its milk processing site in Okehampton in Devon, England and its distribution

Coca-Cola Company has added Minute Maid Pulpy to its portfolio of brands that have

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

International dairy co-operative FrieslandCampina is investing Eur36m to almost double production capacity at its Aalter production site in Belgium. The project will span 18 months and develop Aalter into a state-ofthe-art factory.

FrieslandCampina employs around 1,200 people in Belgium and achieved a turnover of Eur523.2m in 2009. In addition to Belgium, the products manufactured in Aalter are also sold in the French, British, German and Dutch markets.

Rationalisation at Robert Wiseman Dairies

3

N N E E W W S S depot at Cupar in Fife, Scotland.

A total of 137 jobs will be impacted.

Emmi Exceeds Sales Targets Despite the difficult trading environment, Swiss dairy group Emmi achieved sales slightly higher than expected due largely to the strong performance of its latest acquisitions and encouraging international growth. The group net profit margin for 2010 is expected to be slightly over 3%.

Emmi generated net sales of SFr2.68b (Eur2.1b) in 2010, an increase of 2.5% on the previous year. When adjusted for the effects of acquisitions and currencies, organic growth was 1.3%.

Net sales in Switzerland rose by 0.4% to SFr1.95b as strong performances by brands including Emmi Caffe Latte, Kaltbach and Luzerner, coupled with the acquisitions of Fromalp and Nutrifrais offset the fall in prices resulting from lower milk prices and the loss of a major customer in the course of 2009. Emmi achieved an 8.4% increase in net sales in international markets to SFr732m.

BREWING & DISTILLING

20.2% in the past three years alone, as tax rises have hit trade.

AB InBev Launches Stella Cider Anheuser-Busch InBev is using its famous Stella Artois brand to launch a cider in Britain. The move, which is believed to be the first time a leading lager brand has moved into the cider category, is intended to capitalise on the growing popularity of cider in the UK, which accounts for more than half of total global consumption.

Made from Jonagold apples and with an abv of 4.5%, Stella Cidre is produced in Belgium.

The new launch will be supported by a double-digit million pound marketing campaign and marks AB InBev’s first venture into the cider category. The new cider will be available in the offtrade in 568ml bottles and 440ml cans from Easter.

Continued Recovery For C&C Group’s Magners Cider Irish and UK cider and beer producer C&C Group has reported that its Magners cider brand in Great Britain is continuing to recover with volumes up and net revenue close to level, arresting the decline of previous years. In the three months to 30th November last year on year volumes of Magners were up 4.8%.

Although economic conditions in its core markets remain unpredictable, C&C remains confident of achieving its previously stated guidance for operating profits in the range of Eur102m-Eur106m for the full year.

B B R R II E E F F selling alcohol below the rate of duty plus VAT, under new plans announced by the Government.

The plans will effectively introduce a minimum price for alcohol, helping to crack down on cheap alcohol which is blamed for a great deal of crime.

The rate of duty on a standard 440ml can of 4.2% lager is 33p.

Combined with VAT of 5p, the total of duty plus VAT comes to 38p. So, under the new plans, a can of lager could not be sold for less than 38p.

Intermediate Capital Group for £205m. The business being sold is expected to report sales of £128.8m and EBITDA of £19.3m in the year to 31st December 2010. The price represents a multiple of 10.6 times EBITDA. The sale is in line with Premier’s financial strategy to reduce debt. Premier Foods acquired its meat-free business in 2005 through the acquisitions of Marlow Foods (including Quorn) and Cauldron Foods.

Heineken Sponsors London Olympics 2012

Boparan Makes £342 Million Bid For Northern Foods

Heineken UK has been appointed as official lager supplier and sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games As part of the deal, the company’s flagship premium beer, Heineken will be the branded lager served at the Games and Heineken UK will have exclusive pouring rights for its portfolio of beer and cider brands at all London 2012 venues where alcohol is served.

MERGERS & ACQUISIITONS

Premier Foods Disposes of Meat-free Business for £205 Million Premier Foods is selling its meatfree business, which manufactures and sells products under the Quorn and Cauldron brands, to Exponent Private Equity and

UK Beer Sales Down 3.9% in 2010 Total beer sales in the UK fell by 3.9% last year, impacted by the rises in Beer Tax, according to the latest UK Quarterly Beer Barometer published by the British Beer & Pub Association.

While off-trade sales have remained relatively stable, with shop sales up by 0.6%, pub beer sales have shown a sharp fall of 7.5%. Indeed, pub beer sales have now fallen by a dramatic

John Dunsmore, chief executive of C&C Group.

'Below Cost' Alcohol to be Banned in the UK UK retailers will be banned from

Robert Schofield, chief executive of Premier Foods.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

Boparan Holdings, which is controlled by food business entrepreneur Ranjit Singh Boparan, has made a 73p a share offer for UK convenience food group Northern Foods. The £342m bid scuppers a proposed all-share merger of equals between Northern Foods and Greencore Group, another leading convenience food company in the UK. The board of Northern Foods is recommending the Boparan offer and has withdrawn its support for the Greencore merger.

The proposed merger between Northern Foods and Greencore would have created Essenta Foods, a £1.7b turnover business with strong positions in private label production along with significant band strength in biscuits and frozen pizzas, respectively through the Fox’s and Goodfella’s brands. Essenta Foods would be owned equally

by Northern Foods’ and Greencore’s shareholders.

Integrating the two businesses was expected to yield cost synergies of £40m per annum within three years, with at least half being realised within the first 12 months after completion.

Since making its £342m bid for Northern Foods, Boparan Holdings has increased its stake in the UK convenience food group from 6.6% to 11.4%.

Greencore Considers its Options In response to the recommended 5

N N E E W W S S cash offer by Boparan Holding for Northern Foods, the board of Greencore has announced that it continues to believe that a combination with Northern Foods to create Essenta Foods represents a compelling opportunity for value creation for both Greencore and Northern Foods shareholders.

Given the latest development, the board of Greencore is now considering its options.

regulatory clearance for its acquisition of 66% of Wimm-BillDann Foods, Russia’s leading branded food and beverage company, for $3.8b. The transaction will make PepsiCo the largest food and beverage business in Russia and will strengthen the group’s position in the fast-growing Eastern European and Central Asian markets. It also will raise PepsiCo’s annual global revenues from nutritious and functional foods from approximately $10b today to nearly $13b. This moves PepsiCo closer to its strategic goal of building a $30b nutrition business by 2020.

B B R R II E E F F largest domestic branded spirits producer in Vietnam. Diageo is acquiring a 23.6% stake in Halico for about £33m.

The strategic partnership agreement with Halico represents a significant move by Diageo into the fast growing Vietnamese branded spirits sector. Halico is well-positioned to benefit from this growth given its significant distribution scale and recent investment in a new state-of-theart production facility

Dutch group’s current capacity constraints in the market and improving the geographic location of its breweries. This will enable Heineken to take advantage of the attractive future growth opportunities that exist in different regions of the country.

Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, chairman and chief executive of Heineken.

Carlsberg Increases Stake in Belarus Brewery Patrick Coveney, chief executive of Greencore.

Molson Coors Extends its British Beer Portfolio Molson Coors (UK) has acquired Sharp’s Brewery including the Doom Bar brand for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 1994, Sharp's Brewery is a modern brewer of cask conditioned beer based at Rock in Cornwall and has grown rapidly to become the largest brewer of cask beer in the South West of England. Doom Bar, already the number one selling cask brand in the South West and Wales and the fastest growing cask brand in Greater London, represents a tremendous opportunity for growth in volume and distribution.

With over 8.6m cask beer drinkers in the UK and cask beer representing 15.2% of on-trade beer volume (its highest share of on-trade beer for over a decade), the addition of Doom Bar alongside the developing Worthington’s family of ales allows Molson Coors to add further choice to its beer portfolio.

Paul Wash, chief executive of Diageo.

Cargill to Divest Mosaic Stake Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive of PepsiCo.

Fyffes Expands in Germany Fyffes, one of the largest tropical produce importers and distributors in Europe, has acquired 33.3% of Fruchtimport vanWylick, the German fresh produce distributor and service provider. VanWylick is one of the leading fresh produce companies in the German market with sales in excess of Eur200m. It has a network of banana ripening and distribution centres across Germany and sources produce globally for customers in the wholesale and retail trade. The business will continue to be managed by Dirk Allerding, Jens Allerding and Peter Malsbender.

The Allerding family will retain a 33.3% stake in the company.

Diageo Expands in Vietnam PepsiCo Gains Russian Approval For Wimm-BillDann Acquisition PepsiCo has received Russian 6

Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Halico, the

US-based Cargill, the privately owned global food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services group, is to divest its 64% stake in the Mosaic Company, which is one of the world’s leading providers of crop nutrients and feed ingredients for agriculture industry. According to some analysts, the deal could net Cargill as much as $24b over the next two years. The deal will help Cargill to maintain its status as a private company, sharpen its focus and enhance its credit profile.

Heineken Expands in Nigeria Heineken has strengthened its platform for growth in Nigeria with the acquisition from the Sona Group of two businesses which have controlling interests in each of the Sona, IBBI, Benue, Life and Champion breweries in Nigeria. The acquisition provides Heineken with an additional technical capacity of 3.7m hectolitres, helping to alleviate the

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

Baltic Beverages Holding, Carlsberg Group’s brewing business in Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic countries, has, through a series of transactions, increased its ownership in Belarus-based OJSC Olivaria Brewery to 67.8%. Earlier in the summer of 2010, BBH increased its stake in Olivaria from 30% to 47%.

Olivaria Brewery is ranked third in the Belarus beer market.

Premier Foods to Sell Canned Grocery Operation to Princes For £182m Premier Foods has agreed to sell its East Anglian canned grocery operations to Princes for £182m.

The sale is in line with Premier’s strategy of reducing debt and follows the proposed disposal of its meat-free business.

The canned grocery business employs approximately 1,600 people and manufactures a wide range of canned foods including baked beans, pasta, vegetables, soup, meat and fruit. For the year ended 31st December 2010, it is expected to have revenues of £334.2m, EBITDA of £31.7m and a trading profit of £27.8m.

The purchase price represents a multiple of 5.75 times EBITDA. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement to sell our canned grocery operations. As a

N N E E W W S S predominantly non-branded business, it has not been an area of focus for us. Selling the business simplifies our operations and allows us to concentrate our efforts on our current portfolio of great British brands,” says Robert Schofield, chief executive of Premier Foods.

Combined with the proposed disposal of its meat-free business, Premier will have delivered total gross proceeds of £387m, significantly accelerating the delivery of its financial strategy and easing its debt burden.

“This proposed acquisition is an excellent strategic fit for our group and will enable us to further grow our business in the UK and continental Europe by offering our customers a broader range of ambient food products and brands,” remarks Ken Critchley, managing director of Princes. The transaction is expected to complete in late March 2011.

Raisio Acquires Big Bear Group Finnish food group Raisio has acquired UK-based Big Bear Group for Eur95.3m (£82.0m) to further its growth strategy of becoming the leading provider of healthy snacks in Europe. In the financial year to the end of August 2010, Big Bear Group’s net sales were Eur65.1 m, EBITDA was Eur13.6m and EBIT was Eur12.1m. Nearly 70% of net sales are generated by breakfast and snack products and 30% by confectionery. The company employs some 250 people and has production in two locations in Leicester and in Southall, London.

With the acquisition, Raisio will gain a stronger foothold in the branded snacks and breakfast markets in Great Britain and

Western Europe. The deal will also strengthen the company’s position in the UK confectionery market. Great Britain becomes the largest market area for Raisio’s food business with Eur140-150m in annual net sales. Raisio is already present in the British snacks market with Glisten, which it acquired for Eur22.8m in 2010.

B B R R II E E F F leading US performance nutrition business. Its products are shipped to over 40,000 retail outlets in the US and distributed in over 90 countries worldwide.

Refresco Acquires Spumador to Strengthen European Leadership Netherlands-based Refresco Group is acquiring Spumador, the largest producer of private label carbonated soft drinks and mineral water in Italy from private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum. Refresco is the market leader in the production of private label soft drinks and fruit juices in Europe.

Spumador is a major producer for the Italian retail market with five production locations in Northern Italy. In addition to private label carbonated soft drinks and mineral water, Spumador also manufactures ready-to-drink (RTD) iced teas, sport drinks and fruit juices and owns a number of trademarks, including San Antonio, Valverde and San Attiva.

In 2009, the company generated Eur170m in revenue, an increase of 7% compared to 2008, and produced a total of 958m litres, up more than 9% over the previous year.

The acquisition of Spumador is Refresco’s second substantial acquisition within a year. It follows the acquisition of Soft Drinks International (SDI), a German producer of soft drinks and mineral water with revenues of Eur140m in September 2010.

gy with science-intensive innovations that address global challenges in food production and reduced fossil fuel consumption.

Danisco’s specialty food ingredients business, including enablers, cultures and sweeteners, generates about 65% of group sales. Genencor, its enzymes division, represents 35% of total sales. Danisco and DuPont are already joint venture partners in the development of cellulosic ethanol technology.

Danisco has nearly 7,000 employees globally with operations in 23 countries.

John Moloney, group managing director of Glanbia.

DuPont to Acquire Danisco For $6.3 Billion Global science group DuPont is acquiring Danisco, the enzyme and specialty food ingredients company, for $5.8b in cash and the assumption of $500m of Danisco net debt. The deal will establish DuPont as a clear leader in industrial biotechnolo-

Ellen Kullman, chief executive of DuPont.

Glanbia Acquires US Performance Nutrition Business for $144 Million

Matti Rihko, chief executive of Raisio.

Glanbia, the international nutritional ingredients and cheese group, is acquiring BioEngineered Supplements and Nutrition (BSN) for $144m (Eur108m) to strengthen its portfolio in the fast growing, higher margin, sports nutrition sector. BSN was founded in 2001 and has since become a FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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I PACKAGING INNOVATION

R-Flute® – Ringing the Changes in Retail Ready lthough times are changing rapidly in A the retail end of the corrugated packaging market, it is very rare to be able to talk about a major breakthrough, but DS Smith Packaging’s new R-Flute® deserves that description, and more.

R-Flute® is a new type of corrugated fluting designed to help customers sell more, reduce supply chain costs and operate sustainably.

A meticulous development process has resulted in a profile in which the flutes are smaller and closer together than B-Flute, whilst optimising board strength. It is suited to many sectors and ideal for fast moving consumer goods. Compared with the widely used B-Flute, R-Flute® delivers better printing, better appearance, machine line efficiencies and dramatic savings in logistics, whilst continuing to offer the necessary protection.

Following an intensive period of design, development and trials in numerous applications, R-Flute® usage has accelerated very quickly. It is already the second most popular type of fluting bought by DS Smith Packaging’s customers and many more are keen to benefit.

The 20% Advantage R-Flute®’s calliper is 20% less than BFlute’s, so that 20% more corrugated can be loaded onto a pallet for delivery. This means up to 20% fewer deliveries to handle, up to 20% less storage space and correspondingly fewer pallet movements in the factory. All these percentage points add up to big savings for customers, in cash, space, operating time and carbon.

Ardagh is achieving a reduction of 142 tonnes of C02 emissions.

Success at Point of Sale Compared with B-Flute, R-Flute® offers a flatter, better surface for printing and presentation, a crucial advantage for more and 8

35% more product can be put onto a pallet inbound.

vative bake-in-bag product, The Saucy Fish Company turned to DS Smith Packaging Louth for the retail ready pack. DS Smith used R-Flute®’s superior performance in both print and pack construction to develop an RRP pack that perfectly complements the shaped inner cartons, holding them securely and in a way that presents the full face of the primary pack to the consumer. Additionally, because there is so much more packaging being delivered on every pallet, the result is 20% fewer vehicles on the road.

Ardagh Glass, a leading producer of glass jars and bottles, used the crush resistance of R-Flute® to bring their annual packaging weight down by 160 tonnes. This translates into a reduction of 142 tonnes of CO2 emissions. 1700 pallets have been taken out of the supply chain and 68 fewer trucks are needed for deliveries.

more customers as they seek brand appeal and sales success with shoppers in store.

In addition, the closeness of the flute tips helps perforated retail ready packaging to form squarely, open reliably and look good on shelf after opening, another big factor in competing for sales.

Performance Excellence As if great print is not enough, the excellent crush resistance of the R-Flute® surface makes it exceptionally effective for shipments of products in bottles, cans or similar containers.

On automated packing lines, some customers who have moved from B-Flute report productivity increases of up to 15%.

This is achieved via crisp, problem free folding and less downtime to feed new pallets of corrugated into the line, since each pallet of R-Flute® holds many more empty packs.

Proving Itself Some practical examples show how RFlute® has proved itself in very different circumstances. A range of wine packs for Constellation Europe has taken full advantage of R-Flute®’s superb printing characteristics to increase brand appeal at the point of sale. With significant focus on operational and commercial improvements, R-Flute® delivers supply chain optimisation characteristics. For example, 35% more product can be put onto a pallet inbound. This supports Constellation Europe’s commitment to reducing its impact on the environment.

When launching its award winning inno-

This pack results in 20% fewer vehicles on the road.

Who Will Benefit From R-Flute®?

As the level of interest accelerates still further from many different industries, DS Smith Packaging is taking care to deploy RFlute® in the right applications where it will deliver the right results. Tony Foster, director of DS Smith Packaging, says: “We’re confident that, by using R-Flute® together with our unique PackRight business tools, we can give customers a step change in packaging efficiency, sustainability and effectiveness. This is a radical development offering real supply chain cost savings and brand image improvement – our customers have been quick to recognise the benefits.” J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Preactor APS: The Most Appealing Solution For Leading UK Potato Supplier

S

olanum is one of the UK’s preinput from a number of key individumier suppliers of potatoes with a als, including Nicola Bingham, the reputation gained by providing then planning manager. quality and value for more than 60 years. A division of the £240m The Solution turnover ProduceWorld group, After a thorough selection process, Solanum is based in Sutton Bridge at Preactor was the solution chosen for the former headquarters of the Potato offering the best combination of Marketing Board and supplies 57,000 value for money as well as the best tonnes of potatoes each year to the levels of service and support. Darren major UK high street retailers.

Mortimer continues: “Preactor had The company receives orders on a the visual look and feel that our plandaily basis which may or may not cor- Rob Callab, planning and logistics coordinator, with Darren ning manager wanted as well as a respond to a long range sales forecast Mortimer, operations director of Solanum. very easy and intuitive user interface and need to be supplied on either a via the Gantt charts. I was impressed same day or next day basis. Potatoes are size graded by variety before by the combination of functionality and flexibility of the product being washed, packed, labelled and dispatched. However, as opera- but also by the fact that Preactor had a clear and demonstrable track tions director Darren Mortimer explains, the reality is complicated record in the food and beverage sector.” by a range of factors which create some challenging business issues.

Darren Mortimer is quick to credit the smooth implementation “While dealing exclusively with potatoes we handle in excess of 27 of Preactor to Nicola Bingham and Preactor Partner Kudos different varieties, which with all the packaging permutations, add Solutions. up to approximately 140 possible SKUs. Order sizes range all the way from a single case, which might be 6kg, up to over 4500 cases, Catalyst For Change Preactor has served as a catalyst for changing the entire planning which might be 10 tonnes upwards.” culture in the company. Preactor in conjunction with other initiaChallenges tives and improvements has helped deliver a broad spectrum of benThen there is the challenge of managing the source of supply. 80% efits for Solanum, not least an improvement in resource efficiency of of all potatoes used are grown in the UK while 20% are imported 5%. and all need to be harvested at the correct time and appropriately In terms of human resource, whereas the company had 5-10% conditioned. It goes without saying that the actual yield of any par- spare resource at any one time, this has now been reduced to zero in ticular crop may differ significantly from anticipated yield. Add to addition to a reduction to the use of costly short term agency staff. this the fact that potatoes have varying sensitivity to bruising and Because of the increased visibility and accuracy of what needs to be you have a significantly fluctuating source of supply. packed and when, over-packaging has been reduced significantly Within the plant, human and machine resources also need to be with half of this being directly attributable to Preactor. managed efficiently although this is complicated by the fact that up Such is the increase in confidence and accuracy that Darren to 25% of the potatoes processed through the production line are Mortimer says the company now routinely hits 95% or more of the not of an acceptable quality, and are graded out on line, prior to plan each day and this confidence has impacted other areas of the packing which obviously influences the actual time that a line is business. “Preactor has helped transform not only the way the comphysically working on a particular order. pany operates but also its entire approach, moving us much more Darren Mortimer describes the company’s planning prior to to a genuine demand driven business. If you took it away, we siminvesting in Preactor as “individual production line focused due to ply wouldn’t know what to do without it,” he remarks. J an absence of a factory wide planning culture.” A failed in-house planning software application had not helped at all and planning was literally down to the experience of a few key personnel and a general culture of assuming that most people knew what needed to be made most of the time. The catalyst for change was a review of the order and planning process with

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Staples Chilled Fresh Vegetables – Future-proofing With Microsoft Dynamics AX

S

taples is a multi-site operation employing around 500 full time staff and growing at an impressive 15% year on year.

Multiple sites spread across Lincolnshire and the Isle of Wight, as well as dedicated suppliers in Spain and Portugal, spreads production to take full advantage of different climatic and other growing conditions - allowing the best possible connected continuity of supply. Staples own and manage all the factors of production resulting in complete control of all the stages that a product passes through from seed to customer.

Direct control enables the company to co-ordinate traceability, quality assurance, continuity, customer service and cost efficiency and, ultimately, to ensure customers receive a superior product.

However, maintaining the level of control requires an advanced technology solution to overview the total process and ensure quality and service does not falter.

Business Issues and Challenges The existing computer system was becoming obsolete and Staples was not able to offer its full Guarantee of service. Requiring significant manual effort and for reasons of obsolescence Staples Managing Director, Vernon Read, looked to the market to provide an integrated solution that would be easily upgradeable and provide its 500 staff with the software to be able to perform tasks at the optimum level. The evaluation process ruled out other systems, which could not meet the exacting requirements of Staples, and definitely not wanting to write their own solution, Vernon Read narrowed the evaluation down to two Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions; MS Dynamics NAV and MS Dynamics AX. Dynamics AX became a clear favourite as it demonstrated full flexibility against competitive offerings and has easy upgrade and scalability paths to meet the growth expectations of the Staples business.

Why Dynamics AX and K3 The industry specific functionality required to understand and handle fresh produce stock handling, provided by K3’s 18 years of experience in the sector, was key to gaining the confidence of the Staples management team.

FreshDynamicsTM is designed using the flexibility and scalability of Dynamics AX with the addition of modules specifically for the fresh produce industry. Additional modules covering all aspects of fresh produce farming and distribution include batch consignments, grower’s payments, spray records, stock control, sales order

processing, procurement, packhouse, imported product, traceability reporting, account sales and retrospective rebates.

FreshDynamicsTM, therefore, provides full management and operational control of all the factors of production as well as integrated quality control. Additionally FreshDynamicsTM offers customers the ability to take full advantage of the latest mobile technology to ensure staff have full access to all aspects of the ERP solution at their fingertips whether working out in the fields or in the office.

The Solution “It is important to us that the solution worked over different telecoms such as VPN and Wireless so that we could track consignments and have full information as to how long the products had been in the field, on the lorry and at Quality Control. This way we can ensure that we continue to provide the best quality produce to our customers at the optimum time,” continues Vernon Read. The FreshDynamicsTM solution provides full information about what part of the process to ensure complete freshness and quality of produce is required then and where no matter where an individual is on the site to full live traceability across the disparate sites.

Benefits Staples are expecting to realise a number of substantial business benefits through the implementation of FreshDynamicsTM. These include better analysis and management of labour and more accurate stock management. This has resulted in the ability to reduce costs in the business and increase profitability.

Future Plans Staples is a future facing organisation that constantly searches for new ideas and products to further improve the product, its services and the value offered to its customers. Using the latest technology to increase efficiency in all areas of the business has an important positive knock-on effect in improving the customer experience.

Implementation of FreshDynamicsTM has given Staples all the best ERP technology that will grow and adapt with the company supporting the total success and future of the company.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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stablished in Newcastle over 30 years ago, Sage is a leader in business software and services and has helped more than 780,000 businesses in the UK. They are focused on providing software and services to larger businesses and those with more complex business requirements.

Sage’s enterprise resource planning solutions join up operations and help to drive efficiencies, reduce overheads and provide the tools needed to successfully manage your business processes.

Sage ERP 1000 Sage ERP 1000 is the leading ERP, accounting and CRM software package that provides mid to large businesses with a system that can be tailored to industry needs. Food and Drink companies can benefit from a fully integrated system that manages financials and commercials, supply chains, distribution and manufacturing.

Sage ERP X3 Sage UK's latest ERP solution provides an agile and streamlined global ERP solution for Food & Drink companies. The system includes accounting, inventory, manufacturing and customer relationship management within an environment that is easy to use and easy to customise to your business needs.

For further information visit www.sage.co.uk.

Sage ERP 1000 Helps Vimto Manufacturer Nichols Run a Streamlined ‘Hands-off’ Supply Chain

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oft drinks specialist, Nichols plc promotes and sells Vimto branded products, as well as Panda and Sunkist, to outlets across the world. Carbonated, still and dilutable cordial Vimto is drunk from bottles, cans and tetra paks in over 69 countries.

Vimto has been quenching thirsts at home and abroad for over a century. As well as successfully extending the brand to satisfy changing consumer tastes, Nichols takes a forward-looking approach to technology.

The company has been a Sage customer since the mid-1990s and its long-standing Sage Business Partner Datel has helped Nichol’s to evolve its IT in line with changing business needs.

The most recent major Sage migration was to Sage ERP 1000, the leading business management system which has become the hub of Nichols’ outsourced operation for manufacturing and distribution.

Focusing on the Core Business Significant company restructuring took place in 2004. From the company’s head office in Newton le Willows, Allan Doyle, Group IT manager, explains: “We decided to concentrate on what we excel at – sales and marketing – and work with partners with strengths in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.

This enabled us to reduce our workforce from around 800 down to 110.”

Today, the Sage ERP 1000 system handles the interface with manufacturer Cott Beverages in Kegworth and logistics company Great Bear in Pontefract.

Allan Doyle outlines how Sage ERP 1000 helps the three companies to work together seamlessly from order to invoice: “Our customer

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

services team accepts orders by all the usual methods, including EDI, and enters them onto Sage ERP 1000. That’s the end of our involvement until it’s time to invoice. The system takes over, extracting the order data and sending it on to Great Bear as a delivery request over a secure link. Once the order is picked and despatched, the details of the product, the sales order and the all-important batch number for traceability are returned to us. APIs (application programming interfaces) developed by Datel capture the files for automatic processing within Sage ERP 1000.”

At the end of each day and on the same day of order despatch, Nichols’ centralised finance function sends out the invoice, based on the sales order information stored on Sage ERP 1000, with an efficiency that helps the company’s cash flow.

In the same way, Nichols automatically receives details from Cott Beverages of the quantity and type of goods delivered to its warehouse. No manual intervention is required, as the software does all the work.

Allan Doyle puts it in a nutshell when he says: “It’s all very slick. We don’t see or touch the product, but we retain full control of our systems and stock.” The company is now looking to adapt this business model within two other Nichols businesses.

Commenting on the ability of Sage ERP 1000 to meet business requirements, he adds: “Sage scores highly on flexibility and supports our outsourced operation extremely well.”

A Close Working Partnership Allan Doyle values Datel’s help in supporting the transition to outsourcing: “Datel has outstanding knowledge and experience of using Sage within the food and drinks industry, and a deep understanding of our business, not just our IT infrastructure.”

Find out more about what Datel offers the food and drinks industry at www.foodanddrinksoftware.com.

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FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

I SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS

Unilever Implements Terra Technology Demand Sensing Globally nilever, the global food, home and personal care product group, has signed a global agreement for Terra Technology’s Demand Sensing and Multi-Enterprise Inventory Optimization solutions. Unilever has been using Demand Sensing in North America for a year and significantly decreased forecast error in manufacturing and inventory. Unilever anticipates decreasing safety stock up to 15% following the worldwide implementation.

Unilever also piloted the software in Europe and Asia, reducing forecast error more than 50%.

“Unilever standardised on Terra Technology's Demand Sensing and Inventory Optimization solutions to improve market responsiveness and decrease costs. As the global economy continues to be volatile and consumer spending remains unsteady, consumer products companies must accurately predict sales to decrease costs and maintain profits. Improving forecast accuracy and inventory planning helps Unilever meet consumer demand for products without carrying excess inventory,” explains Gary Calveley, group vice president of

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customer service excellence for Unilever.

Terra Technology is a provider of innovative supply chain solutions for consumer products companies. Terra Technology’s solutions use better mathematics and downstream data like POS to improve supply chain performance, reducing forecast error up to 50% and inventory up to 20%. More accurate forecasts save money, lower inventory, improve customer service and decrease waste. Some of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies use Terra Technology, including Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods, KimberlyClark, ConAgra Foods and Campbell Soup.

Robert Byrne, president and chief executive of Terra Technology, comments: “Adopting best-in-class technologies ensures that Unilever can respond quickly and efficiently to changes in the consumer marketplace. By implementing Demand Sensing and Multi-Enterprise Inventory Optimization worldwide, Unilever will be able to predict shifts in consumer demand around the globe and will be able to deliver the right products to consumers while lowering inventory.” J

Business productivity success for Doves Farm Foods as others follow in their footsteps in upgrading from low end software to more modern & feature rich integrated solutions Doves Farm Foods is a specialist supplier of organic, fair trade and gluten-free flour and foods to both retail and wholesale markets.

Since installing Lakeview’s solution for food and beverage companies, Doves has doubled its turnover.

The challenge

“We recognised the need for a modern, integrated management information solution that combined a comprehensive accounting package with full stock traceability. It also needed to scale with business growth. And, as a supplier of food ingredients and finished products, full stock traceability from receipt of each ingredient, through to batch manufacture to final distribution to end-customer was especially important,” says Malcolm Squires, Financial Director of Doves.

time in the case of wholesale customers.” says Squires.

Similarly, before Lakeview, agreed pricing was set up as ‘list price less discount’, which become increasingly cumbersome as Doves moved to a system of net pricing with three quarters of its customers.

Lakeview’s ability to price in both formats not only saved time but presented accounting information in a customerfriendly format. And, with a support team providing a ‘prompt and highly responsive service’, Squires comments, “Lakeview provides us with a flexible and scalable accounting and manufacturing solution ideally geared to the needs of our business.”

The results

In meeting the specific accounting requirements of the food supply industry, Lakeview’s flexible pricing approach delivered many further benefits. Doves’ previous accounting system required discounts to be set up on a product-by-product basis: With Lakeview, by contrast, common discounts can be input by product group.

“This was less problematic for large retailers carrying a restricted range, but Lakeview saves us considerable inputting

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FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

To find out more, visit:

www.lakeview.co.uk www.twitter.com/ukerp E. info@lakeview.co.uk T. 0845 388 3329

I PLANNING & SCHEDULING

Preactor Express Proves Runaway Success reactor International, the world’s leadP ing specialist planning and scheduling software company, has announced that several hundred companies have already downloaded and activated the new entrylevel solution, Preactor Express. Available since January 4th 2011, Preactor Express is aimed specifically at providing smaller companies with access to the proven flexibility and functionality of the industry’s leading planning and scheduling solution.

Based on the company’s latest version Preactor 11, Preactor Express is completely free of charge.

“We are delighted but not surprised by the tremendous response to the launch of Preactor Express. It confirms our strategic and innovative decision to make our proven technology available free of charge to smaller companies historically struggling to manage their production with spreadsheets or out-dated planning applications,” comments Mike Novels, chief executive of Preactor International.

He continues, “Smaller companies face a unique range of challenges and opportunities as the business climate emerges from the recent recession. The reality is that without appropriate planning and schedul-

Mike Novels, chief executive of Preactor International.

ing tools, some such companies won’t thrive as they otherwise might while others won’t survive at all. Preactor Express, available free of charge, gives these manufacturers the best possible chance to gain agility, visibility and competitive advantage. And, because of the excellent scalability of the Preactor family of solutions, there is an assured upgrade path available. Now every company, irrespective of size or budget, can

discover for themselves, the widely acknowledged benefits that Preactor can deliver.”

Preactor Express is available now from www.preactor.com/Express/ Frequently integrated with ERP, MES and Supply Chain Management solutions, Preactor’s breakthrough technology is used by more than 3000 small, medium and large multinational companies located in 67 countries. Preactor has established partnerships with more than 400 companies located around the world to provide local expertise to support the implementation of the solution for each company.

These 1000+ accredited professionals offer a key resource working closely with users to ensure each company’s unique requirements are met. The current trends in manufacturing are towards lowering inventory levels to reduce costs yet still be able to respond to shorter lead times to satisfy customer demand.

Preactor offers a family of applications ranging from mid and long term capacity planning to detail scheduling and is translated into 30 languages. Preactor runs on industry standard hardware, operating systems and databases. J

Expansion of Preactor and Sage ERP X3 Alliance reactor International has announced an extension to all Sage’s subsidiaries P and resellers over all continents of its already successful partnership with Sage, one of the world’s leading ERP service providers. This reinforces the existing relationship and extends the seamless complementary partnership of Preactor and Sage ERP X3 in order to better serve their client needs on a global scale.

Sage ERP X3 is a full-service enterprise management software system for midmarket businesses aimed at meeting the most elaborate business processes, while remaining cost-effective, quick to implement and simple to use. As part of this strategy, Sage ERP X3 selected Preactor APS to be scheduling solution of choice for its French market back in 2008 and has already achieved over 20 reference sites in France alone.

“Sage has long recognised the value that Preactor’s planning and scheduling solutions bring to manufacturers across the world which is why we have devel-

oped a number of OEM agreements with Preactor and have over 250 global customers already. By extending the Sage ERP X3/Preactor partnership to cover a much greater number of countries, companies looking for a truly international solution can now have access to the strong combination of Sage and Preactor,” comments Emmanuel Obadia, senior vice president for Sage ERP X3.

Valerie Goulevitch, head of marketing and communication for Preactor, is equally positive about the partnership.

“Preactor and Sage both have a proven track record in developing solutions that meet manufacturers’ genuine business needs. This is possible because of the deep experience of each company at every level across all manufacturing sectors. The partFOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

nership in France has been very strong and this is a natural extension of this success.” She continues: “Preactor is available wherever Sage ERP X3 is deployed across the world and Sage ERP X3 customers everywhere can now make use of our global team of 1000+ accredited implementation experts to get the very best from their investment in Sage ERP X3 and Preactor.”

The Sage Group is a leading global supplier of business management software and related products and services, principally for small to medium-sized enterprises.

Formed in 1981, Sage has 6.3 million customers and 13,400 employees worldwide.

It operates in over 24 countries covering the UK, Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, India and China. J 17

+44(0)1505 850 229

info@sbsayrshire.com

SBS Ayrshire are leading suppliers of new and used process plant equipment and machinery to the food and beverage, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

We also offer complete filling lines for glass, PET, and canning lines or single items including rinsers, fillers, cappers, labellers, and packaging.

Other key equipment that can be supplied includes storage and process tanks, fermentation and reactor vessels, mixers, centrifuges, pumps, filtration units, steam boilers, electrical generators, and blenders.

SERVICES INCLUDE

removal and • Machinery installation services and management • Project Advice and • Environmental Consultancy Services solutions • Asset and equipment removal • Plant and installation

SBS Ayrshire Ltd North Halket Lugton, Kilmarnock Ayrshire, KA3 4EE t: +44(0)1505 850 229 f: +44(0)1505 850 229 e: info@sbsayrshire.com w: www.sbsayrshire.com

projects • Turnkey and electrical • Mechanical decommissioning and

• • •

re-installation services Transport, shipping, and export packaging Industrial dismantling Engineering Consultancy

COVER STORY

Glenmorangie Focuses on Brands Building Following £45 Million Investment Scotch whisky distiller The Glenmorangie Company, which is part of Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has just completed a £45 million investment programme designed to support the continuing growth of its highly successful, premium single malt whisky brands – Glenmorangie and Ardbeg.

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he two-year development programme has entailed the construction of a new bottling facility and expansion of the Glenmorangie Distillery at Tain and the Ardbeg Distillery on Islay, the restyling of the visitor centres and the relocation of the company’s headquarters to central Edinburgh.

Glenmorangie employs just over 200 people.

The Glenmorangie Distillery has a capacity of 6 million litres/year, while the Ardbeg Distillery’s capacity is 1 million litres/year. Glenmorangie also owns the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, which has two venues in Edinburgh and one in London

year for the Scotch whisky industry in general due to the global economic downturn.

Glenmorangie’s pre-tax profit for 2009 plunged 68% to £12.74 million on turnover of £73.14 million, down from £112.6 million in 2008.

However, the Glenmorangie and Ardbeg branded business performed well and trading in the company’s key strategic markets saw an upturn, with increased branded sales, notably in Asia, continental Europe and the US, supporting the decision to increase investment and resources.

New Bottling Facility Restructuring and Refocusing A key aspect of the programme to expand and The investment programme forms part of a major upgrade capacity and facilities to meet the acceloverhaul of the company over the past two years. erating global demand for Glenmorangie’s malt This follows the decision, announced in July whisky has entailed the opening of a new £9 mil2008, to transform the business from a broadlion bottling facility at Livingston. The 12,000 ranging whisky distiller to a highly-focused, presquare metre, two-storey building houses two mium-branded single malt company. The change bottling halls and has been purpose-built with of strategy was prompted by fast growing overseas particular emphasis on high-quality production, demand for premium single malt Scotch whiskies. Christophe Navarre, president of the wines energy efficiency, safety and environmental conGlenmorangie is now concentrating on develop- and spirits business group, LVMH Moet siderations. ing the most profitable part of its business - the Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

The facility incorporates state-of-the-art techGlenmorangie and Ardbeg branded malt whisky nologies - the Whirlwind air blower system used operations- and has with- to clean the pipework is a drawn from the bottling and first for the Scotch whisky sale of blended whisky and industry – and also the highthird party bottling activi- est safety standards such as ties. bottom only tanker emptyThe streamlining of the ing and filling. business has been supported Commissioned at the end by the £45 million invest- of September 2010, the new ment programme, including bottling facility has been £20million on increased designed according to the warehousing at Tain and the BREEAM standard (BuildArdbeg distillery on Islay, ing Research Establishment and £10million on expand- Environmental Assessment ing production capacity at Method). The environmenTain and an upgrade to the tal and energy efficiency feavisitor centres at Tain and tures include rainwater harArdbeg. vesting and automatic lightThe restructuring impact- ing controls. To preserve ed on Glenmorangie’s 2009 and enhance the ecological Glenmorangie whisky had a very good year financial performance, integrity of the site, The new two-storey bottling facility at in the US, continental Europe and Asia. which was also a difficult Glenmorangie also employed Livingston has been purpose-built.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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an ecologist in the design of the landscaping surrounding the new facility.

The new bottling plant provides the capacity for a significant increase in production of both the Glenmorganie and Ardbeg brands to meet the demand for premium single malt whisky in growing markets such as Asia, Continental Europe and the US. “These are exciting times for The Glenmorangie Company,” says chief executive Paul Neep. “Alongside our new facilities, we are also investing to develop Glenmorangie and Ardbeg in its key markets across the world.”

New Headquarters Glenmorangie has also recently moved into a new head office at The Cube in Edinburgh after selling its 33 acre bottling plant and headquarters in Boxburn to Diageo. The impressive six-storey glass-fronted Cube was designed by Allan Murray Architects and is owned by German real estate company IVG. According to Paul Neep, the move “will help to reinforce the direction of our company and to retain and recruit the best people.”

Glenmorangie has been part of Moet Hennessy, LVMH’s wines and spirits business group since 2005. Moet Hennessey also owns champagne brands Moet & Chandon and Dom Perignon along with Hennessy cognac.

LVMH, the world’s leading luxury products group, acquired Glenmorangie for £300 million, beating rival drinks groups Pernod Ricard and Bacardi to the prize. The sale removed the last independent whisky company in Scotland from public ownership.and netted £105 million for the Macdonald family, who had controlled Glenmorangie for almost a century.

Massive Investment in Scotch Glenmorangie’s expansion programme is part of a massive £600 million capital spend over the past two years by the Scotch whisky industry on extending production capacity – including distilling,

The two-year development programme has entailed expansion of the Glenmorangie Distillery at Tain.

bottling and warehousing – to support long-term growth.

For example, Diageo has invested £40 million to build a new distillery in Speyside, the first malt distillery of scale to be opened in Scotland in over thirty years.

Primed For Growth 2010 marked the emergence of a revitalised Glenmorangie, as the company completed its transformation from a broad ranging whisky business into one focused on building the Glenmorangie and Ardbeg brands. Both brands performed strongly in 2010, contributing to rapid sales and profits growth at The new bottling plant provides the Moet Hennessy (see Panel). capacity for a significant increase in Glenmorangie whisky had production of both the Glenmorganie and a very good year in the US, Ardbeg brands. continental Europe and Asia.

The encouraging growth was backed by a new advertising campaign highlighting the considerable work involved in producing a single malt without equal. The brand plumbed its rich heritage to create Glenmorangie Finealta, the new opus of its Private Edition collection, which reinterprets a whisky that was introduced for the first time in 1903.

Ardbeg recorded strong growth in the US and continental Europe to maintain its position as the most desirable Islay whisky. The introduction of Ardbeg Corryvreckan was greeted enthusiastically and the product won the title ‘Best Single Malt’ in the 2010 Whisky Bible.

With the increased capacities of the distilleries and a new bottling site with leading-edge technologies, the two brands have developed a solid basis to ensure future growth. According to Christophe Navarre, president of the wines and spirits business group, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton: “The efforts made by these two brands since joining LVMH now mean that they can begin a decisive stage in their growth under optimum conditions.”

Glenmorangie’s vision is to create the world’s most inspiring and highly respected single malt whisky brands. In 2011 the company has ambitious growth plans which will be supported by record levels of brand marketing investment. J

Rapid Revenue and Profit Growth at Moet Hennessy 2010 was a year of renewed volume growth for Moet Hennessy, the wines and spirits business of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group. The wines and spirits business group increased revenue by 19% (organic growth 13%) to Eur3.26 billion in 2010 and lifted profit from recurring operations by 22% to Eur930m.

The business fully benefited from the return of demand in international markets and from having held to its positioning during a difficult 2009. All champagne brands experienced a strong recovery with particularly significant growth for the prestige cuvees, notably Dom Perignon and Krug. Hennessy cognac, which proved resilient during the global economic crisis, continued its strong performance, enjoying rapid growth in emerging markets.

“At the height of the global economic crisis, faced with the inventory reductions made by retailers and slowing demand, our brands continued to make selective investments and, against a general background of severe price pressures, worked to protect their image and maintain their value creation strategy,” says Christophe Navarre, president of the wines and spirits business group, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

He continues: “In 2010, in order to assist the gradual recovery that occurred over the months, we expanded our sales teams in key markets. The

significant profitable growth that we achieved proves the relevance of our strategic choices, and was testimony to the strength of our brands given the rather unequal improvement in the global economy.”

Moet Hennessy’s champagne and wines business generated revenue of Eur1.66 billion and profit from recurring operations of Eur453 million during 2010. Revenue from cognac and spirits was Eur1.60 billion and profit from recurring operations amounted to Eur477 million.

“Strengthened by the rebound in 2010 caused by the relative improvement in the global economy, the wines and spirits business group intends to continue solid growth in the volume and value of its sales during the coming months and to consolidate its market share,” Christophe Navarre remarks.

The wines and spirits business helped LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton to achieve a 19% increase in group revenue in 2010 to Eur20.3 billion, exceeding the Eur20 billion mark for the first time. All businesses saw excellent momentum in Europe, Asia and the US. Louis Vuitton, in particular, once again recorded double-digit revenue growth during the year.

Profit from recurring operations increased by 29% to Eur4.3 billion. The current operating margin improved by 1.6 percentage points to reach 21.3% in 2010 with all businesses contributing to the performance.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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I ENGINEERING SERVICES

It’s Not Just a Job – SBS Ayrshire Provides a Solution stablished in 1996, SBS Ayrshire has gained a reputation for being able to E deliver a diverse range of engineering services, sales and solutions to its clients and customers. The company operates across a range of industrial and commercial business sectors but it is to the whisky industry that it turns for a large part of its core business.

Over the years SBS Ayrshire has provided its full range of engineering services and sales to many of the large and smaller

allows straight forward removal and reassemble to a new owners’ specification.

In addition, with the enhancement of the range of skills and competencies the company can also offer a full plant and equipment decontamination service. This includes the provision of a technically competent waste management service.

Several items were relocated to Tain and Isaly for the client. Any remaining surplus items were purchased by SBS Ayrshire.

Sales of Equipment

names in the whisky industry, helping them augment their existing engineering capabilities allied to a company that is comfortable with the provision of a full range of turnkey operations (see Panel One).

Services at Glenmorangie involved efficiently removing and relocating storage vats (see Panel Two). SBS ensured safe packing and loading into transport.

Panel One: SBS Completes Loch Lomond Distillery Project Following an extensive rebuild, the SBS team has just completed a turnkey project for Loch Lomond Distillery which involved the removal of eight redundant vessels and the installation of eight brand new stainless steel storage tanks.

The project was completed in its entirety by SBS including all the procurement and installation of equipment from the tanks themselves to the CIP cleaning systems and stainless steel number plaques. SBS also managed the entire logistics operation ensuring timely delivery of the new tanks and minimising production down-time.

The project is a key part of Loch Lomond Distillery’s capital expenditure programme for 2010/2011 and will help it to realise future production targets.

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SBS Ayrshire has available at any one time an extensive stock of industrial equipment and machinery. This stock of equipment is turned over on a regular basis and the company is constantly on the lookout for new or used equipment across the whole range of industrial and commercial sectors.

The company is also tapped into a wide array of stockists of both new and used equipment, who can be used as an extension of the company’s own stock, giving an even greater range of possibilities of acquiring equipment or machinery to match a customer’s needs Decommissioning, Dismantling, Machinery Removal and Re-installation

Having at hand an experienced and technically adept team of engineers SBS Ayrshire can provide a full decommissioning and dismantling service. Equipment being dismantled in a manner, which

SHE Consultancy

The company, through the professional capabilities of its own in-house SHEQ Manager, is also in a position to offer to its clients a complete SHE Consultancy Service. In particular the SBS SHEQ Manager has particular technical management capabilities in the field of Environmental Management. J Panel Two: SBS at Glenmorangie, Broxburn SBS Ayrshire recently completed an eight months project for Glenmorangie at the distillers Broxburn site. SBS purchased a complete spirit filling line and over 40 VATS from Glenmorangie. The tanks included space saving vats, glass lined tanks, GRP tanks, and 50,00062,000L capacity tanks. All items were marketed

by SBS and sold on to several customers. After efficiently removing all items, SBS ensured the safe packing and loading of the filling equipment and storage vessels onto transport. SBS also relocated and reinstalled several items to Tain and Islay for the client.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

I TANKS & VALVES

Kieselmann Strengthens its Scotch Whisky Presence s a vertically integrated and privately A owned German business, Kieselmann has been able to invest heavily in state-ofthe-art machinery and product development whilst maintaining its competitive pricing structure. Kieselmann valves have accordingly become synonymous with quality and innovation.

Kieselmann has representatives throughout the world, with its UK office being founded by Ian Scott in 2007. From its Worcestershire office it is able to offer technical service support, a 24 hour delivery service on stock parts and now the opportunity for customers to have their own dedicated stock holding with Kieselmann.

One of Kieselmann’s most recent innovations has been the single seat double pressure shock proofed valve, which shares its body with the standard Kieselmann double seat valve and so can be substituted into existing lines with minimum downtime. This extremely cost efficient valve was used extensively in Glenmorangie’s new Livingston bottling plant, a project

Kieselmann manifold awaiting despatch to UK.

The well known integrated control head has just been upgraded to meet the latest demands of the market.

Whilst Kieselmann should be a familiar name to process engineering professionals as a valve supplier, it also hold over 200,000 metres of tubing and its German production facility can manufacture bespoke stainless steel manifolds/skids to suit your exact requirements.

For more information and product data sheets please contact the UK General Manager at ian.scott@kieselmann.de. J

that included the largest manifold in the UK containing 154 valves and designed by Kieselmann’s in-house process engineers.

With this order, Glenmorangie has joined the growing number of blue chip food, beverage and personal care companies in the UK attracted to Kieselmann by the products’ technical strength and ease of servicing as well as the company’s reputation for collaborating closely with project managers and end users to ensure that the optimum process package is supplied.

New family of control heads.

Pierre Guerin Helping to Maximise Productivity While Reducing Operating Costs wine making (red or white wines, still or effervescent wines) and spirits production industry and has contributed to its evolution.

The company’s presence in the major viticulture areas in France as well as other regions of Europe and also in the United

is by observing and listening to vine I40tgrowers and cellar heads for more than years that the PIERRE GUERIN company is able to propose, design, build and take an active role in developing both the heritage and innovation within the viticulture world.

Technology is crucial for better control practices and to bring improvements to the methods of wine and spirits manufacturing while building on their traditions.

PIERRE GUERIN has extensive process and technological expertise within the FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

States, South America, Japan and Canada, is evidence of PIERRE GUERIN’s reputation and know-how.

PIERRE GUERIN works in partnership with its customers, including family enterprises, large international companies, cooperative houses and traders. Indeed, throughout the world PIERRE GUERIN is associated with top-of-the-range products and services technology and aesthetics.

PIERRE GUERIN Program for the wine and spirits industry includes: * Storage tanks * Wine making tanks * Process tanks * Process components & accessories * Additional services and equipment for cellars.

With its 40 years of process experience, PIERRE GUERIN helps customers to maximise their productivity while reducing operating costs. J 23

I SCOTCH WHISKY

Chivas Brothers Slakes Growing Thirst for Premium Scotch Having recently upgraded and expanded capacity at its bottling and distilling facilities, Chivas Brothers is capitalising on the growing popularity of Scotch whisky in overseas markets. he Scotch whisky and gin business of Pernod Ricard, Chivas Brothers employs 1,600 people across 32 sites in the UK and is headquartered at Paisley in Scotland. Its operations encompass 12 malt distilleries, a grain distillery, two gin distilleries and over 300 bonded warehouses, containing an extensive aged inventory of more than six million casks. Chivas Brothers is the world leader in luxury Scotch whisky, selling more than 85% of Scotch whiskies aged 21 years old and over globally.

Its strong portfolio of icon brands includes Chivas Regal, produced at the company’s Strathisla distillery at Keith, The Glenlivet, distilled near Ballindalloch on Speyside, and Ballantine’s, which is made and bottled near Dumbarton. The Dumbarton site is one of Scotland’s largest spirits bottling plants and is central to the distribution of Chivas Brothers’ Scotch whiskies as well as its Beefeater gin brand.

The Chivas Regal brand is the top superpremium Scotch whisky in Europe. It is also the leading imported spirit in China, a key export market for Scotch whisky and where 25% of the global luxury demand is generated. Since 2002, Chivas Brothers has developed The Glenlivet from being the world’s third best selling malt whisky brand into second place, and is intent on becoming the market leader.

The Glenlivet increased sales by 7% and Chivas Regal by 5% in Pernod Ricard’s last financial year. Both are part of Pernod

T

Christian Porta, chairman and chief executive of Chivas Brothers.

Ricard’s top 14 strategic brands, which account for 55% of group sales.

Investment in Future Growth In line with its strategy of developing its premium Scotch whisky brands, Chivas Brothers has been upgrading and expanding capacity at its bottling and distilling facilities. The Dumbarton site has now been refurbished and expanded, while capacity and efficiency has also been increased at the bottling plant at Paisley.

To support its ambition to make The Glenlivet the leading single malt whisky brand in the world, Chivas Brothers recently expanded The Glenlivet Distillery in Speyside following investment of £10 million. The distillery extension, which houses a new mash tun, eight traditional Oregon pine washbacks and six expertly crafted copper stills, has expanded production capacity by 75%, allowing the brand to continue to exploit growing demand in international markets.

The Glenlivet is one of only two malts globally ever to sell more than 600,000 nine litre cases per year.

24

Strong Heritage The Glenlivet was the first licensed distillery in the remote Livet Valley in Scotand. Indeed, The Glenlivet has defined the Speyside style of whisky which has become the heartland of

Scotch malt whisky production.

The Glenlivet was the first malt to be promoted in the US, as soon as Prohibition was lifted. It is currently the leading single malt whisky in the US and is one of only two malts globally ever to sell more than 600,000 nine litre cases per year.

The new stills installed in The Glenlivet are traditionally hand-built in copper and have been fitted with advanced heat-recovery technology (used to pre-heat liquids elsewhere in the distillery) thus reducing overall energy use. By-products of the distilling process (spent draff, grain and pot ale) are recycled in the form of animal feed for the local farming community.

“The stunning new extension not only gives us the production potential to meet the buoyant demands of global markets and, one day take the number one spot, it is also a sympathetic and aesthetically enduring legacy for generations to come to admire,” points out Christian Porta, chairman and chief executive of Chivas Brothers. “We are already leading from the front in the US, the world’s most valuable Scotch whisky market and number one single malt market, and we are now well-positioned to replicate this success internationally.”

Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard and is the world leader in luxury Scotch whisky, selling more than 85% of Scotch whiskies aged 21 years old and over.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

Rising Scotch Exports The value of Scotch whisky exports in the first ten months of 2010 rose by 12%, compared with the corresponding period in the previous year, to reach £2.8 billion, according to the Scotch Whisky Association. “This is hugely encouraging news for the Scotch whisky industry,” says Christian Porta, “Following a more challenging environment in 2009, it is great for the industry to see a strong growth pattern emerging again.” J

I PALLETISING AND DE-PALLETISING

Pro Handling Solutions at Chivas Brothers hivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky and C gin company of Pernod Ricard, aims to become the global leader in Scotch's fastgrowing premium sector. In order to help achieve this, the company requires increased production efficiency from its Kilmalid bottling facility in Dumbarton, near Glasgow.

The facility plays a key role in the distribution of brands such as Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s and Beefeater Gin, and is currently undergoing an upgrade to its line 15 bottling line. After the successful installation of eight automatic case palletisers three years ago, and the upgrade of bottling line 12 to include an automatic bottle de-palletiser, Chivas chose to contact Pro Handling Solutions; the agent for Lita of Turin, Italy – one of Europe’s major sup-

pliers of palletising and depalletising systems.

PHS, based in Worcestershire, looked at Chivas’ requirements of high speed, tapered bottles and a very tight envelope before choosing a Lita Metro depalletiser. This allows the operator to put a pallet of glass on the in-feed conveyor by fork lift truck, then key the glass type and pallet code into the HMI. The pallet is then automatically conveyed into the de-palletiser.

The layer trays are automatically removed by a pneumatic robotic arm which lifts the tray and drops it in a discharge chute to be collated by the operator for recycling. The layers of bottles are swept onto the discharge table, which can run at a rate of up to 250 bottles per minute if required. On some premium glass the bottle dividers are removed manually by the operator.

Bottles are powered through 90 degrees and transferred in single file on

to the line bottling conveyors. When all the layers are swept off the empty pallets are automatically stacked ten high and removed by fork lift truck.

The order was placed in April 2010 and had to go into production early in August with as short an installation window as possible. PHS project manager Geoff Hunt chose to do as much commissioning and product trials in Turin as physically possible to minimise the installation and commissioning time at Kilmalid. Pallet loads of glass were shipped to Turin and extensive trials with Chivas’ project team were completed prior to delivery of the system to Scotland. J

I STORAGE

Purity Expands Storage With Canopy From Spaciotempo K-based Purity Soft Drinks has stepped up its storage space to U cope with increased demand for its natural range of fruit juices and smoothies. Investment in a range of new products, in addition to a purpose-built, state of the art distribution centre in Wednesbury, has resulted in further success for the company which highlighted a need for an undercover storage solution. After searching the web for temporary warehousing space, the company has rented a large canopy structure from temporary buildings specialist, Spaciotempo, to stack and store cases of plastic bottles ready for the production line.

The 10 x 25 x 6 m canopy is located adjacent to the main factory so that bottles can be transported swiftly by fork lift truck on a just in time basis. The aluminium structure is clad with upvc panels and a top quality pvc roof covering to provide the building with wind tolerances to BSI standards. The whole structure is anchored safely to the existing ground by way of a locked pin mechanism.

The 6m unobstructed eaves height allows high level racking to take full advantage of the roof space.

For further information contact sales@spaciotempo.com/ www.spaciotempo.co.uk or call +44 (0)1889 569569. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

25

I PACKAGING DESIGN

R-Flute® Stacks Up For Lincolnshire Herbs ith 50% of the UK market, Lincolnshire Herbs prides itself on W producing only the finest range of potted herbs. They chose a perfect packaging partner in DS Smith Packaging Louth whose teams share their passion for innovation and sustainable working practices.

Understanding that quality is an essential ingredient for this produce category, a complete review of the packaging was undertaken. The previous supplier’s box was a standard B-flute case with an opening tape.

Louth recommended R-Flute®, the major new breakthrough in fluting technology unique to DS Smith Packaging. The pack

was converted into a single material retail ready format. As R-Flute®’s calliper is smaller, and the flute tips are closer together than B-flute’s, the new perforated pack forms squarely and opens reliably whilst continu-

ing to optimise board strength.

Because of the 20% reduction in calliper, more packaging can be delivered on a pallet, which means fewer pallet movements, fewer vehicles and less need for storage space. Most impressively, using R-Flute® has enabled 10,200 more packs to be stacked in each lorry with the result that deliveries have been reduced from once a week to once every ten days.

Rob Grundy, production manager of Lincolnshire Herbs, comments: “Not only does the pack work well, but it looks great too. Critically, it is helping our business reduce costs and drive out carbon.” J

A Robust and Colourful Pack For Calypso hen Calypso Soft Drinks needed to develop eye-catching packaging for a W new range of children's soft drinks for Sainsbury’s, they turned to their long-standing supplier, DS Smith Packaging Featherstone.

Featherstone specified the radical new RFlute®, which is a significant new breakthrough by DS Smith Packaging in fluting technology. When compared with the more commonly used B-flute, R-Flute® offers a flatter, better surface for printing and presentation, a crucial advantage for more and more customers as they seek brand appeal and sales success with shoppers. Strong print also means that product can be found easily back of store and therefore prevents costly stock outs.

The development benefited from the use of DS Smith’s Packaging’s PackRight suite of tools. DesignRight ensured that the pack was engineered to meet the rigours of Calypso's automatic packing lines and extended supply chain. ImageRight, in combination with R-Flute’s® flat print surface, gave the finished pack an outstanding colourful and vibrant impact, with precise matching of all the brand colours. The impressive Eric the Elephant pack is post printed in five colours.

"We are delighted with the results of this project. DS Smith Packaging has been instrumental in delivering this new line to market," says Catherine Matthews, Calypso’s design manager. J

Saucy Sales and Savings hen launching its award winning W innovative bake-in-bag product, The Saucy Fish Company turned to DS Smith Packaging Louth for its retail ready pack.

The team at Louth specified a great new development in fluting technology - RFlute®. This medium provides a superior performance in both print and pack construction and this helped to develop a retail ready pack that perfectly complements the shaped inner cartons, holding them securely and in a way that presents the full face of the primary pack to the consumer.

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FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

The closeness and structure of the flute tips, when compared to B-flute, enables the pack to fold very accurately, so that the finished pack is always neat and square. The perforated opening works reliably and gives a neat appearance on the shelf. This allows more of the primary product to be visible to the shopper, greatly increasing point of sale impact.

As the calliper of R-Flute® is 20% less than B-flute’s there is so much more packaging being delivered on every pallet with the result that there are 20% fewer vehicles on the road. J

I CHEESE

Key Players Battle For a Bigger Slice of the UK Cheese Market Worth £2.5 billion in 2010, the UK cheese market is showing solid growth and the major producers have been investing to improve their efficiency in a highly competitive industry. he cheese category accounts for just over a quarter of the £9 billion annual retail sales of dairy products in the UK. Virtually all households in Britain purchase cheese with the average household buying 1.5 times per week.

UK cheese volume sales rose by 3.2% during 2010 to 407,642 tonnes and consumer expenditure increased by 3.6% to £2.5 billion. The average price of a kilo of cheese was slightly up on the 2009 level, rising 0.4% to £6.03. Continuing the trend of the last four years, sales of pre-packed cheese have risen at the expense of loose cheese, which is in decline.

UK Dairy co-operative Milk Link (see Panel) is the largest producer of British cheeses, while the leading cheese brand is Cathedral City, which is worth over £200 million at retail sales value and is owned by Dairy Crest.

T

Cheddar is Still the Big Cheese Cheddar cheese remains the most popular cheese type with British consumers, accounting for more than half of the total market. Volume sales of cheddar cheese increased by 5.0% during 2010 to reach 226,751 tonnes.

British shoppers are showing a preference for mature and medium cheddar over milder tasting varieties. Sales of mild cheddar fell by 5.8% last year, with mature and medium cheddar sales increasing by 8.2% and 6.0% respectively.

Brands have been key to driving volume

Irish Dairy Board’s Leek site is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly cheese packing facilities throughout the UK and Europe.

growth in the cheddar category. Indeed, the top cheddar brands - Cathedral City, Seriously Strong (owned by Lactalis McLelland), Pilgrims Choice (Irish Dairy Board) and Wyke Farm – are amongst the top six best performing cheese brands in the UK. However, the category is characterised by heavy promotional activity with private label products often more expensive than branded cheddar. The average price of branded cheddar cheese is now 2.9% lower than supermarket label cheddar and only 15.0% higher than value cheddar. Branded mature cheddar is on average £0.01/kg cheaper than budget label mature cheddar. This has resulted in sales of branded cheddar increasing by 7.7% at the expense of value cheddar which has declined by 7.9%.

Grated and sliced convenience cheese is showing rapid growth to the detriment of block cheddar. A further feature of the UK cheese market during 2010 is that sales of soft and processed cheeses have risen, while territorial cheese sales have fallen.

Overseas sales of British cheeses are also buoyant and are helping to fuel the growth in exports of UK dairy products. Dairy sales jumped by 21% to £464 million in the first half of 2010, driven by a 15% increase in cheese exports, especially cheddar and blue cheeses. Cheese exports in 2009 amounted to a record 104,000 tonnes, up from 86,000 tonnes the year before. However, the UK imports a similar amount of cheese each year.

Foods following the merger of The Kerrygold Company and North Downs Dairy, both wholly owned English subsidiaries of the Irish Dairy Board. Adams Foods is now the UK’s leading supplier of retail pre-packed hard cheese, supplying over 30% of the total market and the leading supplier of private label in the convenience and healthy cheese categories. The new company will supply over 200 million packs of cheese each year.

The Adams Foods cheese portfolio includes branded cheddar in the form of Pilgrims Choice, and added value private label cheeses in other hard cheese sectors.

Adams Foods also sells and markets Kerrygold, the premium Irish butter brand.

With an annual turnover in the region of £335 million, Adams Foods incorporates two cheese packing operations – the former Kerrygold Company factory at Leek in Staffordshire, and the former North Downs Dairy facility in Wincanton, Somerset.

Heavy Investment Following investment of £30 million by the Irish Dairy Board in a new state-of-the-art factory and office complex, which opened in 2009, the Leek site is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly cheese packing facilities throughout the UK and Europe.

Dairy Crest has also enhanced its cheese operations in recent times. Having invested £25 million in a new packing plant at Nuneaton, Dairy Crest now has a worldclass supply chain supporting its Cathedral City brand.

Other major players within the UK cheese

Creation of Adams Foods A major development within the UK cheese industry last year was the creation of Adams FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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Milk Link Consolidates Leadership in British Cheese

industry include Scottish dairy processor Lactalis McLelland and Wyke Farms. Owner of the Seriously Strong, Galloway and McLelland brands Lactalis McLelland is one of Britain’s largest producers of cheddar cheese. It has been part of French dairy group Lactalis since 2005.

A family-run company based in Somerset, Wyke Farms is Britain’s largest independent cheese producer and milk processor. It is also the only independent dairy company to have one of the top 10 cheddar brands in the UK. Irish Influence Irish dairy processors play an influential role within the UK cheese market, especially the cheddar category. Indeed, Ireland supplies about two-thirds of total UK cheddar imports, which amount to over 100,000 tonnes annually.

The UK is an important market for Irish cheese producers. During the past twelve years, cheese production in Ireland, which stood at 92,000 tonnes in 1998, has almost doubled, with recent growth supported by the Irish Government through its Dairy Investment Fund. Almost 80% of Irish cheese production is cheddar, with the balance made up of Dubliner, Emmental, and Italian types such as Mozzarella and Regato.

Most of the additional cheese volumes have been marketed by the Irish Dairy Board through subsidiary companies and direct to market supply chains. The new facility in Leek, with an 80,000 tonne per year packing capability, will significantly enhance the IDB’s marketing effort in the UK with greater scale, efficiency and service levels.

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UK dairy co-operative Milk Link has acquired the Cornish Country Larder cheese business for an undisclosed sum in a deal that strengthens its position as the leading producer of British cheese. The acquisition means that, in addition to producing a comprehensive range of cheddars, hard and crumbly territorials and Stilton, Milk Link will now be able to offer its major retail and food service customers a selection of soft cheeses.

The CCL creamery already uses milk supplied by Milk Link’s Cornish dairy farmer members and the acquisition is a further step forward in the co-operative’s strategy of maximising the value of its members’ milk by processing it into value added products.

Neil Kennedy, chief executive of Milk “The acquisition is a further positive development for Milk Link.

Link whose dairy farmer membership heartland is in the South West and is in line with our strategy of building Milk Link into the leading British value added dairy processing business,” says Neil Kennedy, chief executive of Milk Link.

Milk Link also recently acquired the Llandyrnog Creamery in North Wales for £25.6m to reinforce its leadership position in British cheese production.

Eur200 Million Investment in Irish Cheese and Whey Processing Nine dairy companies in the Republic of Ireland, including Glanbia, Dairygold, Carbery, Kerry Group and Wexford Creameries, recently invested a total of Eur198 million, including 40% Government grant aid from the Dairy Investment Fund, in expanding and enhancing their cheese and whey processing facilities to increase the proportion of added value production and to ensure continued global competitiveness in the long-term.

Within the last few months, Kerry Group, the global ingredients, flavours and consumer foods manufacturer, has strengthened its Irish cheese business following the Eur33 million acquisition of Newmarket Co-operative Creameries. Newmarket Co-operative has an annual manufacturing capacity in excess of 35,000 tonnes, and is a major supplier of cheese to Kerry Group’s branded cheese business.

Another ownership change involved Dairy Crest reducing its stake in its Irish dairy joint venture, Wexford Creamery, from 80% to 30%. Wexford Milk Producers, Dairy Crest’s partner in Wexford Creamery, has increased

its stake from 20% to 70%. The deal is in line with Dairy Crest’s strategy of concentrating on developing its key brands and further reducing its exposure to volatile commodity markets.

The UK dairy group will retain a minority stake in Wexford Creamery and will continue to provide a range of services to the creamery, including packing and distribution, and will also sell Wexford branded cheese in the UK for a transitional period. Wexford Creameries recently invested Eur6.5 million in upgrading its cheddar cheese facility to improve efficiency and cost competitiveness.

In Northern Ireland, Dale Farm, which is owned by co-operative United Dairy Farmers, has invested £16.3 million to increase cheese and whey processing at its Dunmanbridge facility, focusing on more added-value production. The project, which includes a new 50,000 tonne per annum cheddar cheese plant and a whey ultra-filtration plant, is part of a wider £39 million investment by Dale Farm across its three sites in Northern Ireland in support of its rapidly growing sales in consumer products and specialist ingredients in the UK, Ireland and key export markets. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

I CHEESE & WHEY

Higher Power and Lower Costs – New Advances in Thermal Processing and Whey Concentrate Production ll world leaders in their own right, A Anhydro, APV and Gerstenberg Schroder are three of the core brands of SPX Flow Technology. With an accumulated history of 270 years within their respective fields, they continue to develop and deliver innovative food and dairy processing technologies that offer higher performance and quality at lower cost.

Adding Value to Whey

Whey has traditionally been seen as a biproduct of very limited value. SPX Flow Technology is now changing this picture with a new solution from the Anhydro brand that combines high-capacity production of high-value whey protein concentrate with cost-saving environmental protection and sustainability technologies.

The conversion of liquid whey permeate into a powder with better transport and storage attributes means that dairies and food manufacturers can now leverage the full benefit of whey protein concentrate as a mix ingredient to improve both quality and earnings in a wide range of applications.

The Anhydro solution, which has already been adopted by AFISA in Argentina, combines evaporation, crystallization, drying, an outlet air filtration system, and a CIP system to produce non-caking, high-quality, food grade powder products and whey and permeate powders. Innovative environmental protection and sustainable technologies including energy recovery using an energy-optimized dehumidification system, water recycling, wastewater reduction, noise reduction, and emissions control add to the significant cost savings.

Combining Food Safety with Food Quality

The SPX Instant Infusion System developed by the APV brand is available for capacities ranging from 500 to 20,000 l/h using unique, patented features that are specifically designed for combined high-heat and gentle treatment of heatsensitive products containing high solids and viscosity concentrates to ensure uncompromised food safety and quality.

SPX Instant Infusion SPX (formerly Anhydro) in Soeborg, Denmark. offers exceptional heat transfer efficiency, the elimination of par- scraped surface heat exchanger developed tial overheating and a significant reduction by the Gerstenberg Schroder brand for the in homogenisation effect. Well-defined, production of crystallised fat products such accurate and uniform heating-holding-cool- as margarine, spreads and shortening. A ing time profiles for low and high viscosity scraper blade system optimizes efficient products on the same installation enable scraping off while minimising chilling tube wear. uniform bacteriological kill rates.

One of the special aspects of Nexus is the SPX Instant Infusion ensures safe and gentle thermal treatment of milk and whey use of C02 instead of Ammonia or Freon as based proteins and ingredients for infant a refrigerant. In addition to offering many formula and other products with the same environmental, financial and legal advanrequirements. The SPX SpiraTherm coiled tages, C02 has also proved to be as much as heat exchanger is particularly suitable for 20%more efficient than conventional high-viscosity products with high fouling refrigerants.

The future-proof design of Nexus makes tendencies.

Nexus suitable for a range of different High-efficiency Fat Crystallisation applications and enables customers to make Nexus is a high-capacity, low-energy modifications and upgrade as needs evolve.

By combining compactness, scraper blade design, C02 refrigerant and energy-saving drive technology, Nexus uses less energy per production hour compared to other solutions with the same capacity to drive down production costs while ensuring high-quality output.

Elimination of heat-resistant spores and potentially pathogenic microorganisms has traditionally meant a significant risk of damaging essential amino acids, proteins and vitamins that can result in nutritional degradation and unacceptable flavour changes in infant formula and other products requiring high nutritional value.

Single Source Solutions

SPX Flow Technology embraces cutting edge solutions from a brand family whose members are world leaders in their own right. The SPX Flow Technology brands are committed to combining their resources and efforts to offer customers world-class solutions for their specific needs. J FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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Starfrost Rises to the Challenge at US Bakery K-based freezing and chilling equipment specialist Starfrost has supplied a leading US bakery firm with three high capacity U dual-purpose machines. Goglanian Bakeries supplies bread products to major retailers, food manufacturers and food service operators across the US and worldwide.

Goglanian was looking for a dual-purpose freezing and chilling system with high capacity and maximum flexibility for new product lines at its facility in South Carolina. It was essential that the fully automated system would provide a cost effective, energy efficient solution.

Starfrost’s Helix Spiral system provided Goglanian with a highly flexible, technologically advanced solution. The system is mainly used for freezing pizza bases of many different sizes/weights and can also be configured for product chilling.

Each of Goglanian’s trio of Three Zone Helix Spirals features a 58-inch wide plastic modular conveyor belt, making them some of the largest and fastest in the world. For

further information contact Starfrost on Tel +44 (0)1502 562206 or visit www.starfrost.co.uk. J

Crunch Time For Ryvita hen it came to the crunch, one of W the UK's leading food companies turned to Tetra Pak CPS for the top quality storage tanks it needed. The Jordans & Ryvita Company required the storage tanks when looking to improve its crispbread manufacturing process. Over 80 years of expertise in mixing equipment, a high level of flexibility and ability to provide bespoke equipment won the order for Tetra Pak CPS, which supplied the Jordans & Ryvita Company with several dough mixing vessels, with agitators.

In addition, Tetra Pak CPS was contracted to design and install a CIP system for high pressure, hassle-free regular cleaning of the vessels. Tetra Pak CPS has built its reputation on its impressive value for money, versatility, professionalism and high level of engineering skill. For further information contact Tetra Pak CPS on Tel +44 (0)1935 818800 or visit www.tetrapakcps.co.uk. J

I COMMUNICATIONS

Data Communications and Networking Solutions From GGR Communications GR Communications is an expert in the design, delivery and G management of data communications and networking solutions. All of its services are supported by excellent customer support and project management.

Clients are based throughout the UK and Europe, across many sectors including the food and beverage industry. GGR Communications prides is proud of the after sales support given to clients, which is why companies like Kinnerton Confectionery rely on GGR Communications for their communications infrastructure.

The Cisco Call Manager that GGR Communications installed in 2007, and now supports for Kinnerton has resulted in a significant reduction of operating expenditure in terms of call charges, staff costs and system maintenance. Kinnerton Confectionery is realising the additional benefits of all employees connecting seamlessly with each other, regardless of their location.

All GGR Communications engineers are industry specialists and the company partners with some of the market leaders in data communications, including Cisco, Websense, Webscreen, LifeSize and RSA to ensure clients are given the best solutions and advice in the market. To see how GGR Communications can help your business visit www.ggr.net. J 32

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

I CONFECTIONERY & SNACKS

Confectionery Behind Zetar’s Continued Recovery Zetar, the UK confectionery and natural snacks group, has built on the recovery in its last financial year by reporting good organic growth in the first six months ended October 31st 2010. djusted profit before tax rose 10% to £2.4 million. Group sales increased by 5.6% to £60.3 million, continuing the trend of healthy rates of growth seen throughout the previous year. Progress was underpinned by the confectionery division, which is now realising the benefits of its past capital investment and strategic focus on everyday impulse chocolate and also enhancing its market leading position in the novelty licensed character sector.

“We are pleased to have continued to grow our business organically and deliver profit before tax ahead of last year by 10%.

This is particularly good in view of rising raw material costs impacting our snacks business, and demonstrates the value of the business’s continued focus on innovation and product development,” points out Ian Blackburn, chief executive of Zetar.

A

Development Zetar was established and listed on AIM in January 2005 with the objective of acquiring or investing in businesses within the large but fragmented confectionery and snack foods markets. Its first step in implementing this strategy was the £32 million acquisition of Kinnerton, a UK manufacturer of novelty and niche chocolate confectionery, created by Clive Beecham, currently group managing director of Zetar, and co-founder Andrew Sellers in 1978.

Kinnerton has used character merchandising for over many years and has licensed many well known character names from cinema, TV and music, such as The Simpsons, Barbie, Bob the Builder, Shrek 2, Batman and Wallace and Gromit. Its novelty chocolate products include Easter eggs, advent calendars and chocolate miniature figures.

Kinnerton was the first confectioner in the world to offer chocolate manufactured in a nut free zone and is committed to developing ‘considerate confectionery’ through offering products that are free

from or low in artificial colourings and flavourings.

Since purchasing Kinnerton, Zetar has made a number of acquisitions and has now developed two divisions - confectionery and natural snacks.

Confectionery Business Kinnerton, which has its manufacturing operation at Fakenham in Norfolk, is the largest company within the confectionery division, which also encompasses Lir in Ireland and Horsley Hick and Flower in York.

Zetar’s confectionery division is one of the UK’s largest independent chocolate manufacturers. In previous years significant investment has been made in improving the capacity and quality of the two newest factories, at York and in Ireland, with a commensurate increase in their infrastructure to support higher sales.

In the first half ended October 31st 2010, confectionery sales advanced by 11% to £36.6 million and adjusted operating profit increased by £0.9 million to £2.3 million.

The confectionery division’s £3.5 million incremental sales, with a higher proportion of everyday sales and a lower proportion of contract production for third parties, plus a number of cost-saving initiatives, have helped generate an additional £0.9 million operating profit in the period, resulting in an improved operating margin of 6.1%, returning to Zetar’s expected longer-term levels. The rise in turnover emanated from a combination of strong sales growth in both the UK and Irish businesses.

The Baileys brand has continued to grow following the introduction of a number of new products to the range including truffle FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

bars and widening UK distribution. Also this Christmas, Zetar introduced a new range of Famous Grouse products, including truffle bars and luxury fudge, which also extends its reach further into the adult confectionery market. In addition, the confectionery division has been successful in developing and launching an increasing selection of everyday chocolate products, including its first luxury chocolate biscuits.

Snacks Division In a market that has recently experienced unprecedented raw material cost increases, the Zetar’s natural snacks division has implemented a series of customer price increases across its range of products. In the short-term this cost inflation has reduced the division’s margins and resulted in an operating profit of £0.6 million in the first half, down from £1.4 million in the corresponding period in 2009, on sales down slightly from £24.0 million to £23.7 million.

A stronger second half performance is expected. Sales of added value premium snacks, which in the long-term are expected to provide a more consistent margin, have increased by over 50% since last year, albeit from a low base, and are expected to grow significantly in 2011.

Outlook “The second half of the year has started well. Christmas sales of our products from retailers to consumers appear to have been robust and relatively unaffected by the welldocumented adverse weather impact in December,” says Ian Blackburn. “Based upon the current indications of trading at Easter, the board expects the group to deliver earnings for the full year in line with market expectations.”

While Zetar is focused on delivering strong organic growth it is also currently evaluating a number of small acquisitions in the UK, according to Clive Beecham. J 33

QUALITY I

& HYGIENE

METAL DETECTION

3

Loma’s IQ is Sweet Enough For Kinnerton Confectionery innerton Confectionery is the largest K independent UK manufacturer of chocolate and novelty confectionery.

Established in 1978, the company uses character merchandising to promote the sales of its chocolate confectionery.

Kinnerton is a distinctive and successful operation, it has a state-of-the-art 125,000 square feet manufacturing facility in the Norfolk market town of Fakenham. Kinnerton produces over 7500 tonnes of chocolate annually; most products are sold to major retail partners across the whole of the UK, as well as other key European territories. Aside from specialising in licensed confectionery, the company also produces a significant range of own brand or private label products for some of the largest retail chains in the UK, Europe and Australia.

The company prides itself for being at the forefront of innovation and development.

Kinnerton has consistently been first to market with path-finding products and product categories. Kinnerton has used character licensing to market its chocolate for over 25 years and has confectionery ranges including some of the most well known character names from film and television including: Barbie, Wallace & Gromit, The Simpsons and Batman.

Quality Control

Kinnerton has a strict HACCP policy and the factory is constantly audited against the British Retail Consortiums ‘Global Food Standard’ to ensure standards are high enough to meet the requirements of their partner companies.

Against this rigorous standard, Kinnerton has been certified to the highest level attainable. This standard incorporates detailed requirements for a stringent quality control system, which exceeds those detailed in the General Food Hygiene Regulations. For a particularly large product, Kinnerton required a new metal detector.

Kinnerton had no hesitation in choosing Loma Systems, a world leader in the design and manufacture of food inspection systems, as they had previously purchased other Loma machines and were extremely pleased with the results. As Lee Hunt, Kinnerton’s deputy engineering manager, comments: 34

“We have used Loma machines several times before and we have always been happy with the machine, service and support that Loma offers.”

With constantly changing production lines, Kinnerton required an adaptable metal detector which could easily be set up to inspect their variety of products.

Lee Hunt continues: “We wanted a flexible machine that could cope with our constantly changing lines, as we manufacture a

Kinnerton Confectionery using Loma IQ3 metal Detection.

variety of products, ranging from 2kg chocolate Easter eggs to 2 foot high chocolate bunnies. Furthermore, we need to inspect over 800 different product lines, so a metal detector, which is simple to set up and minimises downtime was essential. The Loma IQ 3 metal detector was the ideal choice.”

Sophisticated Electronics

The Loma IQ3 metal detector has sophisticated electronics to enable the inventive ‘Automatic Product Learn system’ to calibrate and automatically learn the characteristics and settings for up to 100 different products. An additional feature is the innovative ‘Variable Frequency system’, allowing the operator to auto-select the correct frequency for maximum contaminant sensitivity.

Traditionally single frequency metal detectors need internal adjustments when faced with a product that is materially different from others usually inspected on the line.

However, Loma’s innovative Variable Frequency Technology was the perfect solution for Kinnertons offering an ability to cope with changing product lines without

any fuss or loss of performance.

Tough and Durable

The IQ3 is designed for tough wash down cleaning specification and meets the IP69K environment standard. Additionally, Loma’s ‘Designed to Survive’ ethos is reflected throughout their product range and with many of the lines at Kinnerton’s running 24 hours a day, a tough durable and long lasting metal detector was critical.

The IQ3 metal detector is in a class of its own, this next generation system offers better sensitivity and stability and is more future proof than anything else currently on the market. Lee Hunt adds: “The IQ3 has exceeded our specification for the size of contaminants we are required to find from our biggest multiple retailer client.”

The IQ3 also benefits from a bright control panel, which is very simple to understand and is designed to be used in any multi-language environments. The machine includes a Performance Validation System, automatically prompting the operator to test performance at pre-set intervals according to HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) principles, and producing a detailed record of any contaminants found. Added to this, the IQ3 uses an industry standard OPC system (Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control), allowing operations managers to easily integrate the equipment in factory data capture networks.

Lee Hunt concludes: “Loma’s IQ3 and their service has been fantastic, my technical and engineering teams have had no problems with the performance of the machine and the whole process from enquiry to delivery has been second to none. I was very impressed with the punctual delivery time as Loma delivered the machine in a shorter lead-time than usually quoted.”

With its extensive portfolio of weighing and inspection technologies, and its strong focus on the needs of the food industry, Loma is uniquely resourced to provide systems that not only meet the specific quality assurance needs of its customers today, but offer realistic potential for expansion or enhancement to meet the changing needs of tomorrow. For more information about Loma Systems visit www.loma.com or telephone +44 (0)1252 893300 or email sales@loma.co.uk. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

I MEAT PROCESSING

New £10 Million Facility For Linden Foods Northern Ireland meat processor Linden Foods has opened a new state-of-the-art retail packing and product development facility in Dungannon. he facilities are the result of a £10 million investment by the company which will create 85 new jobs over the next three years. Invest NI has offered assistance totalling £497,000 part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The new 5,740 sq m premises are located adjacent to the company’s main processing site and include an innovation centre incorporating a development kitchen as well as new preparation, production and dispatch areas. Linden Foods anticipates that as a result of the investment the company will be able to increase sales by 32%, most of which will be sold in markets outside Northern Ireland.

“This plant represents a significant investment by Linden Foods in our business in Ireland and underlines our commitment to both our customers and employ-

Linden Foods employs 500 people at its Dungannon plant in Northern Ireland and has an annual turnover of £115 million. Its customers include major retailers and companies within the catering trade throughout the UK and Ireland, such as, Marks & Spencer; Booker, the UK’s largest wholesale cash and carry operator; and webbased gourmet butcher, Donald Russell.

The company forms part of Linden Food Group.

Linden Food Group is a market leader in the fresh meat processing industry, sourcing and processing top quality beef and lamb for customers throughout Europe.

The Linden Food Group, which also incorporates Slaney Foods and Irish Country Meats, has a turnover of more than £300 million and employs 1,100 people across seven sites in Ireland and England.

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Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster is pictured with Trevor Lockhart, chairman of Linden Foods.

ees,” says Trevor Lockhart, chairman of Linden Foods. “By specifically dedicating resources towards infrastructure and the people needed to bring ideas to life we are convinced we can underpin the future growth and profitability of our business.”

Hol-Den Internal Systems provides design and installation of room envelopes using internal composite wall and ceiling panels including door and window systems For over twenty years we have ensured that the internal compartmental systems that we provide are to the highest quality. Our customers operate in the following sectors:

• pharmaceutical • food processing • medical device • temperature controlled distribution

The Hol-Den Internal Systems solution provides the following advantages:

• Customer criteria for a system which is hygienic, cost-effective, quick-to-install and flexible are easily met.

• The customer can maintain Health and Safety, Good Manufacturing

Practice, (GMP), and appropriate cleanroom standards in all associated operating areas.

• As fewer trades are engaged in our solutions, the management of the project is streamlined.

• Finished internal walls rising in excess of 9m are quickly and cleanly erected by our trained crews in a speedier manner than using traditional trades such as plaster board-skim-paint.

Hol-Den, Unit 7, Little Island Industrial Estate, Little Island, Co. Cork, Ireland Telephone: + 353 (0)21 4354 340 Fax: + 353 (0)21 4354316 E-mail: info@holden.ie Website: www.holden.ie

• Positioning of door and window openings is

flexible and easily accomplished. This flexibility also accommodates the running of mechanical, electrical and process utilities.

• The Hol-Den Internal Systems solution also includes composite panel ceilings which may be constructed to a walk-on standard, (BS6399 Part 1). This allows access to ceiling services without disrupting operations in production/process rooms below.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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Focus on Innovation “Linden Foods business strategy remains focused on innovation. We are committed to providing our customers with a range of exciting new products that are well ahead of current trends within the food retailing sector,” comments Gerry Maguire, managing director of Linden Foods. “This new facility, which includes a dedicated development kitchen where new recipes can be trialed and crafted, is the next natural step for the company’s growth and will allow us to bolster our position as market leader within the meat processing industry.”

award in the Best British Burger competition sponsored by EBLEX, the organisation for the English beef and sheep industry.

Linden was also recently awarded the Supply Chain Initiative Award in the UKwide Meat & Poultry Processing Awards for its Banquet Royale Rose Veal. The innovative product, which is breaking new ground in the industry, was launched following significant investment in development to ensure the highest standards achievable in quality and ethical production. J

Indeed, Linden Foods has a strong track record for new product development. It recently won a series of awards for innovation and quality across its range of beef, lamb and rose veal products.

Linden’s Rosemary & Garlic Leg of Lamb won Best New Lamb Product of the year in the prestigious annual Meat Management Awards. Developed specifically for Marks & Spencer’s Christmas specialty range, the product won on the strength of its retail success, quality and focus on the needs of the consumer.

The accolade comes soon after a Gold

I MEAT PROCESSING

Cranswick Strengthens Asset Base ranswick, the UK pork, cooked meats and sandwiches producer, continues to invest in strengthening its asset base. Cranswick has just opened its largest processing plant at Preston in East Yorkshire following investment of £13 million. The highly automated plant incorporates robot technology and replaces the original facility which was built in the 1980s.

Raw material for the factory is sourced locally. “After three years of planning and construction, it’s fantastic that the new facility is now complete,” says Bernard Hoggarth, chief executive of Cranswick.

“This was the final stage in the development plan and I’m happy that we continue to offer a highly efficient operation at Cranswick to local pig producers and that this considerable investment ensures the highest levels of animal welfare going forward.”

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Development Established by farmers in the early 1970s to produce pig feed and later to market pigs, Cranswick has since developed into a fully fledged food manufacturer. Since 1988, through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth, Cranswick has emerged as one of the UK’s leading processors of fresh

pork, bacon, sausages, cooked meats, charcuterie and sandwiches.

Cranswick’s strategy has been to establish a presence in a number of related and growing areas of the food market stemming from its origins in pig feed and pig production.

The purchase of a small pork butchery business in 1988 was followed by a series of acquisitions. During the 1990s, Lazenby's, the premium sausage manufacturer, and Pethick & Co, a high quality ham manufacturer, were acquired.

Subsequent acquisitions included Continental Fine Foods in 2001, North Wales Foods in 2002, The Sandwich Factory the following year and Delico in 2006. The purchase of Perkins Chilled Foods in 2005 made Cranswick one of the UK’s largest suppliers of sliced cooked meats and convenience foods, and increased its focus on the stronger growing areas of the market.

The acquisition of the fresh pork processing business of Bowes of Norfolk for £17 million in 2009 established Cranswick as the UK’s biggest British-owned pigmeat processor and allowed it to close the gap on its larger foreign-owned rivals – Tulip (part of Danish Crown) and Vion of the Netherlands.

Broad Product Range Cranswick now produces a broad range of products across the premium, standard plus, standard and ‘value’ categories of the market-place. For instance, it has grown its premium bacon sales following the opening of a new bacon factory which can produce ‘air-dried’ product.

Cranswick continues to invest for future growth. It has recently completed the new abattoir at its primary pork processing site and the extension to the Lazenby’s sausage facility in Hull. Commissioning work is continuing at the meat group’s air-dried bacon facility at Sherburn-in-Elmet, near Leeds. These facilities provide Cranswick with substantial additional capacity and the

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potential to deliver ongoing efficiency improvements.

The meat processor has also recently acquired the premises of one of its cooked meats facilities at Wombwell, near Barnsley, for £7.3 million.

Positive Trading During its third quarter to 31st December 2010 Cranswick has continued the positive trading performance seen in the first half of its financial year. Underlying like-for-like sales increased by 5% during the quarter, showing a slight increase on the rate of growth seen in the first half of the year.

Volumes were ahead by 10% on the same basis. Overall operating margin was in line with management’s expectations.

The outlook for the company remains promising. Pork is seen as a healthy and relatively cheap meat by consumers and the category is expected to continue to grow, especially in the current economic climate where the focus is on value. Cranswick’s well invested production facilities will allow it to remain highly efficient but with the flexibility to adapt quickly to changing consumer demands. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

Pennine Environmental Services – The Process Cooling Specialist ennine Environmental Services has been delivering practical and cost effective P cooling and process refrigeration solutions to the exacting requirements of clients in the food processing industry for the past 35 years.

Pennine Environmental Services was established in 1975 and since that time has been responsible for many innovative developments in the process chilling, cooling and refrigeration of a wide variety of products including meat, poultry, fish, desserts, bakery products and ready meals. From its headquarters in Leeds, Pennine Environmental Services oversees all design, installation, maintenance and spares requirements and, with a team of service engineers located around the UK, is ready to respond quickly to all customers’ requirements.

Over 1000 successful installations in the food industry have provided Pennine Environmental Services with a unique perspective of what the food industry needs.

Product Range

The company’s product range encompasses: displacement cooling for food preparation areas in both high and low care areas; specialised blast chilling systems to give guaranteed temperature of both high and low risk products; systems to ‘crust freeze’ products to maximise slicing efficiency; and freezing tunnels to provide increased production efficiency and product throughput.

With increasing environmental legislation and energy costs all Pennine Environmental Services plant is designed with energy efficiency at the fore, helping to minimize production costs.

Pennine Positive Air Displacement System

The positive air displacement system, developed by Pennine Environmental

Pennine air cooled condenser.

X-Steam Cooling/Freezing Tunnels

Pennine blast chiller.

Services, is specifically designed to provide a draught free temperature controlled environment in food processing factories and utilises a mix of internal and filtered external air to maximise the potential of ‘free’ environmental cooling and energy efficiency.

The system creates a ‘bath’ of cold air, maintained at between 8 to 10 degrees C, from floor level up to head height, together with a combination of fresh and recycled air to maximise efficiency and minimise running costs. Due to the efficient use of air it requires less equipment and lower fan power for increased efficiency and lower capital costs.

Major benefits of the Pennine system include increased energy efficiency, compared to normal grille systems, and as the system can circulate less air it can work on wider temperature differences. The return air can be allowed to rise in excess of room temperature, thereby reducing the total air volume and allowing greater use of ambient air, providing a significant saving in energy costs.

Blast Chilling

Pennine Environmental Services’ blast chiller options are designed to suit high and low care applications or for final chilling before despatch. The blast chillers are designed for each individual application.

Correct air temperature with high velocity air application in Pennine’s blast chillers provides the most efficient heat transfer to achieve optimum product cooling to maximize shelf life. Pennine blast chillers are ideal for the full range of pork, beef and poultry products, high and low care products.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

Pennine’s new ‘X’-Stream utilises impingement cooling technology to provide increased production efficiency and product throughput. Cooling times can be quicker than spiral freezing at a fraction of the cost of Nitrogen.

The ‘X’-Stream system uniquely applies low temperature/high velocity air onto the product, penetrating the stagnant boundary surrounding it to deliver a more efficient heat exchange.

Applicable to a range of products the ‘X’-Stream’s short payback period, low capital and operating costs make it ideal for all inline production applications.

These include crust freezing to optimise slicing efficiency; chilling in unwrapped packaging to ensure dispatch temperatures of 0 C; chilling or freezing cooked products with a depth of less than 50mm.

Pennine Vent-Stream Chiller For Poultry

The basic aim of the ‘Vent-Stream’ is to chill chicken from post evisceration temperatures to less than 4 C as quickly as possible, using air at conditions which minimise dehydration, in a system which is easily cleanable, cost effective, energy efficient and reliable. The system comprises two parts; the conveyor and the refrigeration plant.

Energy Saving Flo-Stream

The latest addition to Pennine’s portfolio is the Flo-Stream energy optimiser. The addition of a booster pump and appropriate controls to a refrigeration plant will allow the system operating pressure to be reduced. This in turn increases the compressor output without increasing the power usage. Power savings typically of 10% to 15% can be achieved. J

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I ENERGY & WASTE MANAGEMENT

BV Dairy Showcases the Benefits of Anaerobic Digestion ne of the South of England’s most sucO cessful independent dairies, BV Dairy, has significantly reduced its carbon footprint and its energy costs following the installation of a groundbreaking anaerobic digester plant. Dorset-based BV Dairy processes 28 million litres of locally sourced milk per annum to supply its award winning product range, which encompasses milk, cream, clotted cream, cultured milk products, soft cheese and Mascarpone.

Originating as a small dairy farm business in the Blackmore Vale region of Dorset, BV Dairy now operates from a modern processing and distribution site in Shaftesbury.

BV Dairy has been chosen as a showcase site to demonstrate the role anaerobic digestion can play within the UK dairy sector and the wider food manufacturing industry, as part of the Environmental Transformation Fund, which was launched

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in 2008 to focus on low carbon energy and energy efficient technologies. The fund is delivered by DECC in the UK through WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme).

The anaerobic digestion project was officially launched on June 8th 2009 at BV Dairy’s site Wincombe Lane site in Shaftesbury. Construction commenced in November and was completed in Autumn 2010. BV Dairy has received grant support from WRAP. The new plant will be open to visitors and used to demonstrate the advantages of anaerobic digestion to other dairy companies and food processors.

BV Dairy was assisted at all stages of the project from design planning and construction to commissioning and monitoring by Clearfleau, experts on high rate anaerobic systems for the on-site treatment of liquid bio-waste.

Environmental Commitment BV Dairy has an ongoing commitment to managing its environmental impact and investing in anaerobic digestion technology will significantly contribute to this goal.

Not only will the new plant substantially reduce carbon emissions, but also the company’s reliance on external energy resources.

BV Dairy’s new anaerobic digestion system converts the waste liquids from the dairy into biogas, which is then collected and used to generate electricity and heat using a CHP (Combined Heat & Power) unit. The electricity generated is used to power the existing dairy operations, while the heat is used for heating, cleaning and washdown operations, thereby reducing the need for fossil fuels. In addition, small amounts of de-watered digestate are produced which is used as a soil conditioner and fertiliser.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

The anaerobic digestion installation at BV Dairy.

BV Dairy is reducing its effluent treatment charges and its energy costs. The company should cut its purchased electricity consumption by at least 60%. The anaerobic digestion project will also reduce BV Dairy’s C02 emissions by about 1,200 tonnes per year.

The anaerobic digestion plant will also play

an important role in the ongoing development of the business.

The project was led by Jim Highnam, managing director, and Alan McInnes, technical director of BV Dairy. “This is a fantastic opportunity, not just for BV Dairy, but for the whole UK dairy industry, to be at the leading edge of renewable energy technology. We need to release the energy value of these unavoidable liquid wastes,” says Jim Highnam. “We hope that this will be the start of a major shift towards renewable energy production from anaerobic digestion of food wastes.”

According to Alan McInnes: “The project has so many benefits because it will generate energy and reduce waste disposal costs, and at the same time it will have a major impact on the company’s carbon footprint – in fact, the projected carbon

Achieving IS0 14001 BV Dairy has also improved its environmental credentials by recently achieving ISO14001 accreditation. “This has meant an enormous culture change across the site,” explains Rachel Pallett, environmental coordinator for BV Dairy. “We now carry out continuous auditing from reception to production ensuring we are meeting all our environmental objectives.”

The main drive for BV at the moment is waste reduction with the anaerobic digester being an integral part of this.

Whilst ISO14001 is a voluntary approach to environmental regulation, BV Dairy sees this as a very effective means to implement an up to date and efficient environmental management system across the company in which everyone plays their part. J

More UK Food and Drink Companies Commit to Reduce Environmental Impact

The Potential for Anaerobic Digestion in the Food Industry

remier Foods, Associated British Foods, Coca-Cola P Enterprises and Kraft Foods are among the major UK food and drink companies to sign up to the second phase

isposal of processing residues is a major cost for the food industry.

Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a well established process, where micro-organisms that thrive in an oxygen free environment produce biogas from these bio-degradable materials. The biogas can then be used to generate energy (heat and power).

The British Coalition Government has put AD at the forefront of its renewable energy strategy. The technology has applications in the food industry, for effluents that are discharged to sewer or treated in existing on-site treatment plants, as well as other residual materials.

Supported by WRAP - a Government agency funded by the Departments for Energy (DECC) and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) - BV Dairy in Dorset has invested in Clearfleau’s on-site AD system. This treats liquid feedstocks that were previously discharged to the sewer and used as pig feed. Completed in late 2010, this facility supplies energy to BV Dairy’s factory, cutting its carbon footprint.

BV Dairy’s approach to generating energy from liquid effluents can be replicated across the UK food sector. At present policymakers and the AD industry itself are focused on the delivery of large scale centralised plants with an electrical output of over 1MW. However, smaller scale, on-site AD plants, which treat effluents where they are produced, enable the energy to be used in the production process, replacing purchased fossil fuels.

Clearfleau’s innovative design can be installed on confined industrial sites and the system is revenue positive. The process can also treat a range of materials, including sugars, oils or fats, plus reject product or discarded processing ingredients. Post treatment, cleansed effluent is discharged to sewer at much reduced cost, but the process can be extended to allow this to be recycled on site, as grey water.

Payback for on-site liquid AD facilities is dependent on the biogas potential of the available feedstocks but should be less than five years. It is recommended that feedstocks are assessed using laboratory trials or Clearfleau’s mobile trial unit. In 2011 Clearfleau will embark on several other projects in the food and dairy sectors. J

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footprint reduction is quite staggering.”

of the Courtauld Commitment, launched in 2010.

The Courtauld Commitment is a voluntary agreement run by waste advisory body WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) and helps businesses to improve their overall performances and reduce their environmental impact.

Signatories to the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment are supporting three sector targets associated with food waste and packaging across the UK grocery retail supply chain.

“Building a sustainable business is not only about protecting the environment. With it comes a leaner, more efficient business which strips out waste and saves money. The voluntary approach allows industry sectors to move as one and deliver change without government intervention,” points out Liz Goodwin, chief executive of WRAP. Other companies to join the Courtauld Commitment since July 2010 are: AB InBev UK, Cafedirect, Concha y Toro, Cott Beverages, Findus Group, Kraft Foods UK, Miller Brands (UK), Kimberley Clark UK and P & G UK & Ireland. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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I COMBINED HEAT & POWER

Sweet Energy Savings For Tangerine Confectionery angerine Confectionery, the UK’s T largest independent sugar confectionery manufacturer, will achieve significant savings on energy thanks to cogeneration and trigeneration technologies. Tangerine is installing energy efficient combined heat and power (CHP) systems at its Pontefract production site in West Yorkshire, where famous brands such as Wilkinson’s Pontefract cakes and Butterkist Popcorn are made.

Combined heat and power (CHP) – the simultaneous generation of electricity and useful heat - is almost twice as efficient as conventional power generation as the majority of heat is recovered and used on site, rather than wasted into the atmosphere. There is also less transmission loss by avoiding the transportation of electricity along many miles of electrical distribution cables. The Typical pay back period on CHP technology varies between two to four years.

230kWe trigeneration unit.

Cost Savings Each year, Tangerine will achieve cost savings of almost £200,000 and save 630 tonnes of carbon, equivalent to the environmental benefit of 63,000 trees. The two-phase contract, undertaken by sustainable engineering group ENER-G, involved the installation of a 500kWe cogeneration unit in September 2010, followed by a 230kWe trigeneration system to be commissioned in February 2011. The smaller unit will provide electricity, heating and cooling to supply a second production facility.

Tangerine has utilised ENER-G’s discount energy purchase scheme which entails no capital outlay for the business.

The contract is structured to deliver lowcost, low-carbon energy onsite thus reducing the facility’s carbon footprint whilst improving profitability.

UK-based ENER-G is also working with Tangerine to develop CHP solutions on a number of other sites. A multi-site roll-out will facilitate a significant carbon reduction which is increasingly important given the advent of the UK government’s Energy Efficiency Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme.

Tangerine operates seven UK production sites employ approximately 1500 people

and in three years, turnover has increased from £40 million to £150 million.

Tangerine Confectionery was created through three key acquisitions within the UK, over a three years period. In January 2006, a management team with an established pedigree in the confectionery industry acquired Blackpool-based Toms of Denmark. This was followed soon after by the confectionery arm of Burton’s Foods in August 2006, to create a £60 million turnover business, committed to the production of both own label and branded confectionery for the UK and abroad. In February 2008, came the third and largest acquisition: Monkhill Confectionery, which was acquired from Cadbury Schweppes for £58 million in cash.

Its factory in Ferrybridge Road, Pontefract, comprises two production units - one manufacturing liquorice, gums and nougat - and the other making popcorn, chocolate and sugar panned products.

Environmental Performance Peter Sanders, operations director for Tangerine, says: “We are con-

tinually seeking ways to raise our environmental performance and this move to onsite generation of power is a key element of our carbon-cutting strategy. We are very pleased to be partnering with ENER-G which is able to provide us with a total service - from initial design to long term care of the systems. This has required no capital investment by the company as the technology is being supplied by ENER-G in return for us purchasing the generated electricity at a very favourable rate.”

Anthony Mayall, sales director for ENER-G Combined Power, comments: “The challenge of this project was to design a high quality system before the contract was placed, which involved working with the client to understand activity on site, shifts in energy demand patterns and future trends. This is the key to a successful project that will deliver substantial carbon and cost saving, with no capital outlay from the client.”

He continues: “We offer customers a flexible aftercare solution, including a variety of service packages to meet precise requirements. Our CHP on-board computer systems provide a two-way communication channel to the ENER-G 24/7 remote monitoring centre. Such intelligence means we can diagnose and resolve issues before they become problems – providing proactive, predictive maintenance that enables customers to minimise downtime and prolong system life.” J

Tangerine Confectionery is installing energy efficient combined heat and power (CHP) systems at its Pontefract production site.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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I BREWING

Ten Brewers Control 61% of Global Beer Market orldwide beer consumption has increased by over 3% per annum during the last ten years and the top ten brewers now account for over 60% of global beer volume, compared to 38% in 2000. A new report by Rabobank titled ‘Value creation in the Beer Sector through M&A activities’ looks at changes in the beer sector in the last decade. Following consolidation, four leading global brewers have emerged. These four beer companies AB InBev, SABMiller, Heineken and

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Carlsberg - have tripled their combined market share since 2000 and have almost quadrupled their volumes.

Most of the rise in worldwide beer consumption has come from rapid growth in Asia, Eastern Europe, South America and Africa, while volume growth in developed markets was negligible. “The major brewers

reacted to these changes by entering emerging markets and consolidating in developed markets. This has radically altered the competitive landscape,” says Francois Sonneville, a food & agribusiness analyst at Rabobank. “The most striking change is the emergence of a top-four.”

Do Acquisitions Add Value?

According to Francois Sonneville the strategies of the top-four are similar. By making acquisitions they seek to grow their volumes to benefit from economies of scale. “The advantages of scale have led to improved profitability and the margin development of the top-four has been better than the rest of the market,” he says.

But many brewers outside the top-four are not convinced that acquisitions can add value at today’s prices. Francois Sonneville explains: “Over time, acquisitions have become more expensive. So brewers find it difficult to decide the best course to add value to their business in an increasingly aggressive environment.” Ignoring the developments however is not an option. As

the chief executive of one market leader says in the Rabobank report: “You’re either at the table or on the menu.”

The Rabobank analyst acknowledges that the traditional method of comparing the return on capital employed (ROCE) to the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is ideal for predicting value creation, but difficult to use for evaluation purposes. Therefore, a second method, devised specifically for this report, compares the top-four with a constructed peer group of 20 listed major brewers.

The conclusion is that there is no justification for brewers to disregard acquisitions in general for fear of destroying value. A comparison of developments in return on capital employed shows that the acquisition strategy of the top-four brewers not only improved margins, but also led ultimately to value creation. Francois Sonneville continues: “Despite initial pressure on the ROCE from M&A activity, the top-four have managed to outperform the peer group in the long run. So these four have found it better to be at the table than on the menu.” J

Heineken Launches a New Global Brand Campaign The Entrance’, the first installment of a new global brand campaign for Heineken, is proving to be a major online success, with close to four million hits on You Tube in just three weeks. The film premiered on Heineken’s Facebook fan page at the end of 2010 to more than 900,000 Heineken fans and will start to appear on television and cinema screens around the world from the first quarter of 2011 onwards.

Created for Heineken by the Amsterdam office of leading advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, the film’s hero demonstrates the ultimate party entrance.

Charming his way past a coterie of colorful characters, including the beautiful wife of a dignitary, a gun slinging oil baron and even a kung fu assassin, he ends up on stage per-

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forming with the lead singer of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. The Danish alternative pop band sings its latest single and backing track of the film, ‘The Golden Age’. “‘The Entrance’ confirms the brand’s differentiation from other beers”, says Cyril Charzat, senior director Global Heineken

Brand. “Its world-class production values project the brand’s premiumness and exclusivity.”

The widely anticipated campaign includes 90’’, 60”, 45’’ and 30” length commercials and 11 extra short entertaining films, viewed on YouTube and Heineken’s Facebook pages, which reveal the secret backstories of the key characters starring in the film.

Through this campaign, Heineken introduces its new universal tag line ‘Open Your World’ across all marketing executions. The new global tagline is designed to convey the brand’s worldly, open-minded and confident personality. Heineken’s new campaign will see the release of more intriguing films and surprising ways to engage its consumers in the coming months. J

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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DD Williamson Strengthens Science and Innovation Team D Williamson announces the addition of Jason Armao to its Science D and Innovation team at its Global Support Centre in Louisville, US. As application project manager, he will lead the development of colour solutions for each customer’s unique formulation challenges.

Jason Armao brings fifteen years of management experience in the food colouring industry and depth in developing colour business strategies. The new position adds strength to Science and Innovation’s efforts to manage increased demand from customers for application projects.

“We are thrilled to have Jason lead our growing team of applications scientists,” says Margaret Lawson, vice president, Science and Innovation. “His knowledge of natJason Armao has joined DD ural colouring and meeting cusWilliamson’s Science and tomer expectations are valuable Innovation team at its Global additions to our scientific team.”

Support Centre.

Jason Armao earned a BS degree in Clinical Laboratory Science from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and a MBA degree from the Keller Graduate School of Management.

Color with Confidence - DD Williamson's wide array of natural colourings, along with its sought after caramel colour, helps sell 1.5 billion servings of foods and beverages every day. J

Cargill Acquires German Chocolate Business argill is expanding its cocoa and chocolate business in Europe C through the acquisition of. KG Kakao Verarbeitung Berlin (KVB), an integrated chocolate company based in Germany, for an undisclosed sum. KVB operates two production plants, both in Berlin.

The two plants have a capacity of over 75,000 tonnes of chocolate per year and employ around 180 people. Upon completion of the deal, after clearance from the regulatory authorities, KVB and its employees will become part of Cargill's global network of cocoa and chocolate businesses.

“This acquisition marks a significant step in Cargill's chocolate growth strategy in Europe and our ability to better serve our existing and future customers,” comments Jos de Loor, head of Cargill’s cocoa and chocolate business. “The acquisition will strengthen Cargill's position in Germany, the largest chocolate market in Europe, and create opportunities to expand our chocolate business into new markets.”

KVB's two Berlin plants will complement Cargill's existing German cocoa and chocolate facilities in Klein Schierstedt and Hamburg. Completion of the acquisition is expected in the first part of 2011. J

Texture Solutions From Ulrick & Short s food manufacturers become increasingly aware of the growA ing importance in understanding textures, leading clean label ingredients specialists Ulrick & Short has enhanced its customer care offering to help educate food producers on the organoleptic profiles of different starches and flours and the effects these have on finished products.

Ulrick & Short’s expertise in starch technology and commitment to customer service makes it the perfect partner to help food manufacturers understand and relate to sensory properties, textural characteristics and ingredient functionality. In most processed foods starch and flour tend to be the key building blocks for texture and mouthfeel so understanding how to select and dose these ingredients is really important.

The company's highly qualified food experts work closely with customers to carry out product tests, evaluate recipe formulations and analyze the make-up of ingredients. Ulrick & Short’s team also gives guidance on the effects processing techniques have on textural qualities, helping to solve any texture related product failures and bring new products to market more quickly.

In addition, the forward thinking company encourages its customers to explore new ingredient formulations, discover new textures and integrate new ingredients to develop products and create unique new ones.

Ulrick & Short has a broad range of innovative clean label ingredients, which include binders, emulsifiers, bakery glazes, fat replacers and phosphate alternatives, allowing food processors to remove chemicals, additives and allergens without compromising on quality, taste or texture. For further information contact Ulrick & Short on Tel +44 (0)1977 620011 or visit www.ulrickandshort.com. J 44

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

I FRESH PRODUCE

Nature’s Best Turns Over a New Leaf Operating from a state-of-the-art factory, Nature’s Best, Ireland’s leading fresh produce-based chilled convenience food producer, is continuing to invest in innovation as it battles against the recessionary retail environment and seeks to develop export markets. ature’s Best was established in 1986 by Paddy Callaghan, when he started growing bean sprouts at home in his garage. The entrepreneur opened a small factory at Duleek in County Meath in 1987 before moving to a new 55,000 sq ft purpose designed and built factory on a 12 acre site at Drogheda, County Louth in 1999.

Tesco and Dunnes Stores.

The Drogheda factory, which has been since been extended to 70,000 sq ft, is segregated into low/medium/high care areas and incorporates modern production equipment such as triple wash salad bagging, steamfast packaging for prepared vegetables and a high quality fresh cut fruit facility. The laboratory is Campden Accredited.

Nature’s Best is strategically located on the M1 corridor, close to Ireland’s main vegetable growing area of north County Dublin, enabling it to efficiently supply the whole island of Ireland. The company is also within easy access of the main ports for exports, particularly to the UK market.

Raw materials are sourced direct from growers in Ireland, the UK, Spain and elsewhere in Southern Europe, who comply The leafy salad triple washing system at Nature’s Best. with Nature’s Best’s strict techPaddy Callaghan, founder of Nature’s Best; Jim Mulcahy and Frank nical standards. From field to Ryan, both of Enterprise Ireland; and Des Ferris, managing director plate, the business operates to salads made using a mayonnaise base, such of Nature’s Best. the highest international quality as coleslaw, potato salad and pasta salad. standards, and has held the These are sold in both retail packs and in Constant investment in the latest pro- Tesco Blue Flag standard since 2005. bulk format for the self-service salad bars in duction, packaging and warehousing tech- “Ireland now has quality standards that are retail and food service outlets.

Nature’s Best also produces a wide range nology has made the company the leading recognised internationally as being the best of pre-packed vegetables, including carrot supplier of prepared fruit, salad and veg- in the world,” points out Paddy Callaghan. batons, stir fries and roasting vegetables. etable products in the Irish market. About Eur20 million has been invested to date in Product Range the factory. “The factory was built on a Nature’s Best operates greenfield site which gave us the freedom within the fresh proand flexibility to design from a blank can- duce-based chilled vass. That has been very advantageous convenience category, because it enabled us to build a factory that which is dominated by is highly productive and flexible,” says private label. Washed leafy salads in bags and Paddy Callaghan.

Nature’s Best is still privately owned, has bowls account for a current turnover in the region of Eur19 about half of the commillion and employs 200 people. The pany’s business. The company supplies predominantly private second largest element, label products as well as some branded constituting about lines to leading Irish retailers including 30% of sales, is wet Nature’s Best branding on chilled transport trucks.

N

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

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Challenging Period The private label market in Ireland has been through a difficult period over the last 18 months following a change in consumer spending habits along with growing competition from sterling based imports.

“The last 18 months have been very challenging for any company trading within the Irish domestic market,” says Des Ferris, managing director of Nature’s Best.

“The volume of the market is up but value is down year-on-year. We have had to become even more efficient in what is a very demanding business.”

Des Ferris continues: “We are constantly striving to further enhance our capability, productivity, efficiency and competitiveness within both the Irish and UK markets.”

Despite the challenging retail environment, the market fundamentals remain positive for Nature’s Best due to the continuing focus on healthy eating and increasing demand for fresh fruit and vegetables from consumers, who still require convenience and value for money.

Products produced by Nature’s Best are specifically developed to meet these mar-

The exterior of the factory at Drogheda.

ket characteristics.

“The emphasis on five-a-day, which has now become ten-a-day, has been good for business. Margins are challenging but consumers are eating more fresh produce,” remarks Gus O'Reilly, sales director of Nature’s Best. “Over the past couple of years we have restructured the business in response to what is happening in the marketplace. We have become very adaptable and this has helped us enormously.

Having successfully regained competitiveness and repulsed imported products in the Irish market, a restructured Nature’s Best is now looking to resume organic growth and to develop export sales.

“One of the big benefits to the Irish customer of Irish product over imported product is freshness. For example, from factory to shelf of twelve hours against product from the UK having to travel across the Irish Sea,” remarks Des Ferris.

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what we need to do for today’s demands but also tomorrows demands,” comments Des Ferris.

Nature’s Best is seeking to break into niche markets in the UK, initially with its branded products and has recently recruited a business development manager in the UK to head this venture.

Nature’s Best Salad Shakers were named ‘Best New Creation’ at the Bord Bia Marketplace Event 2010. The product range also received the ‘Best on Trend’ award in the Fluid Lives category.

Pictured are (left to right): Paddy Callaghan and Des Ferris with Irish Minister for Food Brendan Smith.

Turning Over a New Leaf Nature’s Best, with support from Enterprise Ireland, is currently investing in a significant market-led business development and innovation programme. This entails innovation in both product and packaging, and the launch of a range of new branded products, some of which are

Expertise and Innovation The branded products are being used to illustrate to retailers Nature’s Best’s technical expertise and capability. “In addition to showing our innovation capability, we also want to raise the company’s profile through branded products,” remarks Des Ferris.

The branded route allows the company to bring new products to market quickly to gauge consumer response. In terms of exports, it will allow Nature’s Best to offer a small range of branded niche products to a wide spread of customers, facilitating cost effective production, distribution and marketing. Of course, developing a brand is also a useful means of attracting higher volume private label business from retailers.

Future Development Having restructured and adjusted to the changing economic and retail environment, Nature’s Best is well placed to consolidate its market leadership in Ireland and to develop export sales.

“We have invested heavily in developing the best possible supply base,” says Des Ferris. “The investment we make in technical expertise, quality and raw materials, coupled with the systems we have in the factory, gives our customers the security of knowing they are going to receive a consistent, high quality and safe product that meets consumer needs.”

The Nature’s Best managing director adds: “If you want to be leader in the category you have to invest more than your competitors. You have to invest in the best equipment, the best facilities and the best people. Everyone of my team strive for perfection for all our customers, they are proud to be part of Nature’s Best and I am proud to be working with them.” J

currently being trialed in the UK retail market.

“We are working on a number of projects, all of which are aimed at improving product quality and delivering a better eating experience to the consumer,” comments Paddy Callaghan. “We believe that in the current difficult economic climate and challenging trading conditions, it is important to continue to invest in the future of our company, so we intend to innovate our way out of the recession.”

“Innovation has to be about more than product, it also takes into account the ‘how’ things are done and European food scientists visiting Nature's Best.

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

I EXHIBITION

Pro2Pac to Deliver Packaging’s Best in 2011 – 13-16 March, London’s ExCeL ith packaging consistently a hot topic W on the news agenda over the last year, there couldn’t be a better time for the UK's processing and packaging exhibition designed exclusively for the food and drink industry to stage its return to London’s ExCeL. Promising to be the most exciting event in its history, Pro2Pac will provide a stage for nearly 100 leading food and drink manufacturers, suppliers and technology providers to showcase a range of new packaging solutions, sustainable materials, manufacturing equipment and first-class processing and packaging services to help companies innovate, operate more effectively, increase profits, and keep up with consumer demand.

Major industry players such as the Benson Group, Ravenwood Packaging, T Freemantle and Nicholl Food Packaging,

plus first-time exhibitors such as Tinware Direct, Winkworth Machinery and Aptar Food and Beverages will capitalise on the fact that, with an annual turnover of £70 billion, the food and drink industry is the UK's largest manufacturing sector.

In addition to the strong UK presence at Pro2Pac, companies from Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Israel, France, Taiwan and Finland will be represented, highlighting the increasing international importance of the show.

International Food & Drink Exhibition Visitors registering for Pro2Pac will also be able to attend IFE - the International Food & Drink Exhibition - located alongside Pro2Pac at ExCeL featuring thousands of major food and drink suppliers from around the globe. With businesses from across the industry able to source the most cost effective practices, equipment and materials to improve business all under one roof, the show is a ‘must’ for anyone in the sector.

Sustainability is high on the agenda for every new product at the development stage as manufacturers look to increasingly ‘green’ alternatives for both packaging and processing methods.

Goldcrest Labels will reveal its

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

Memory Tab label innovation - a perforated tab which appears on the back label of a bottle of wine, giving the details and providing consumers with an easy way to remember a fine wine they have enjoyed.

Once removed, the tab can be kept as a reference for future purchases.

Rexam will be showcasing a range of its high-barrier plastic packaging, including stock containers for closures with a metal double-seamed easy-open or easy-peel end and Rexam bowls, which are currently supplied to Nestle Germany.

Visitors to Pro2Pac will also have the opportunity to examine volumetric depositors, filling machines and transfer pumps at the Riggs Autopack stand.

Weber Marking Systems will display its versatile Alpha 86 Bottle Wrap System which provides fast and accurate positioning of full, overlap and partial-wraps of pressure-sensitive labels on cylindrical

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Weber Marking Systems – Sticking to Your Promises Weber Marking Systems provide labelling products and solutions for a whole host of companies across a broad range of industries from small manufacturers to FTSE 100 Companies. Weber products can be found in virtually all industries, from medical to retail; from plastics to automotive; from food to pharmaceutical.

Weber systems are used to address countless applications such as product identification, bar code compliance labelling, RFID smart labelling, inventory control, work-in progress tracking, shipment addressing, and bin and shelf labelling.

The company’s research and development team has created exclusive label

containers. The company will also have its X4JET Universal print controller and labelling software at the stand for exhibitors to take a closer look.

PFM Packaging Machinery - designers and manufacturers of horizontal and VFFS packaging machinery - will also showcase its range of automatic feeding systems, Flowrap and VFFS machinery and weighing systems.

Packaging Innovation Seminar In addition to world-class exhibitors, Pro2Pac is set to deliver its most exciting educational programme yet with a host of experts presenting in the Packaging Measom Freer Set to Stand Out at EasyFairs Measom Freer will be showcasing the very best of its innovative packaging products on Stand C8 at the easyFairs 2011 Packaging Innovations Exhibition. The well established blow and injection moulded plastic packaging company will be exhibiting a selection of its new bottles for the first time. Two new 30ml bottle shapes expand the company’s Amenity bottles range, it has added to the popular Metric range with a 350ml bottle, a new 75ml oval bottle joins the Griffin range and a brand new range of Fosse bottles will launch in 125 & 150ml sizes. Also on show will be Measom Freer’s diverse range of plastic packaging products from

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materials that endure the harsh elements found in the pharmaceutical, electrical, and chemical industries. For situations that present unique labelling and coding obstacles Weber engineering staff have designed systems that include special material handling equipment, distinct label printing, RFID encoding and label application systems, as well as custom label design software packages.

To complete on-site labelling needs, Weber offers the latest bar code and RFID verification and data capture equipment. For applications that require off-site label printing and/or RFID encoding, Weber provides a service bureau that produces labels to customer specifications.

Innovation Seminar Theatre on the latest issues affecting the industry. Confirmed speakers for the Packaging Innovation Seminars include representatives from the University of Lincoln, UK Can Makers, market research agency Euromonitor and eco-design consultancy Giraffe Innovation.

Packaging Design Challenge For the first time this year, the show will have an entire section dedicated to the Packaging Design Challenge - a competition presenting the most cutting-edge packaging designs from manufacturers, designers and technology providers. The competition will culminate in a presentation of the

jars and boxes to scoops and fasteners. For further information contact Measom Freer on Tel +44 (0)116 2881588 or visit www.measomfreer.co.uk. J Chadwicks Showcases the Future of Shrink Sleeves Leading shrink sleeve manufacturer Chadwicks is inviting visitors to step into the future of shrink sleeve technology at two popular trade shows in February and March. Chadwicks will be showcasing its innovative products and technological expertise at stand F42 at the Packaging Innovations Show on 16th–17th February 2011, and on stand C72 at Pro2Pac from 13–16 March 2011.

Representatives from both Chadwicks Sleeves and Chadwicks Lids will be on hand to demonstrate their expertise and to discuss how tailor-made packaging can increase shelfpresence and benefit brands.

Visitors to the futuristic-themed stand will be shown new and innovative ways to get the most from packaging by using 360

entrants’ ideas at the Packaging Innovation Hub where visitors will vote to choose their favourite designs.

The Pro2Pac website includes a good source of information for visitors with an Innovation Gallery showcasing concepts and designs in packaging which must have been launched within the last six months, exhibitors product videos, news and product information. Details of visitor attractions and seminar programmes are also easily located on the site’s pages.

To find out more about Pro2Pac or to visit the event, contact Archana Sharma on 020 8910 7189 or visit www. pro2pac.co.uk. J

degree, top to toe decorative sleeves with additional valueadded extras, such as tamper evidence and recycle strip capabilities, as well a finding out why Chadwicks is one step ahead in pre-cut lidding. To find out more visit www.chadwicks-sleeves.com or www. chadwicks-lids.com. J

Faerch Plast Polypropylene Bowls a ‘Fresh Choice’ For Morrisons Faerch Plast, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of plastics packaging for the food industry, has been chosen by ready meals supplier Kettleby Foods to manufacture clear polypropylene (PP) bowls for a range of re-launched products

FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS EUROPE, FEBRUARY 2011

at Morrisons supermarkets.

Based in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, Kettleby Foods has used Faerch Plast to package its customers’ ready meals for ten years. When Morrisons decided on the re-launch of its Vegetable Accompaniments and the Best Vegetable Accompaniments ranges, the requirement was for clear packaging to increase shelf presence, as the range was being re-merchandised in store. Developed to provide exceptional transparency and unrivalled impact resistance, even at low temperatures, the PP bowls give immediate on-shelf impact. For further information contact Færch Plast on Tel +44 (0)20 8254 2300 or visit www.faerchplast. co.uk. J

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